Running electoral registration - England

Where you receive a response from an elector at any stage of the ECR process you do not need to continue the ECR chasing cycle.

There are also certain other circumstances that will end the ECR chasing cycle, which are outlined below.

Applications received before the ECR correspondence review has commenced

Where electors have submitted a new registration application prior to you issuing a review notice you can take account of the information contained in the application to update the elector’s existing record, specifically the applicant’s answer to the historical residency question, in deciding whether to make a determination of the applicant’s eligibility without proceeding to a correspondence review.

Where you are satisfied that the applicant meets the new eligibility criteria, you must change the register marker to a B and may send the applicant a Confirmation of Maintained Registration – data-based or use an appropriate alternative communication to indicate that their application has been approved.1

Applications received during the ECR correspondence review

It is possible that during the review period i.e. after you issue a review notice, an elector may choose to submit a new registration application rather than, or in addition to, a response directly to any review notices you have sent them. You must use the relevant information contained in the application to update the elector’s existing record, specifically the applicant’s answer to the historical residency question, as a response to the ECR correspondence review and stop the ECR chase cycle accordingly.2

You should then proceed to determine whether the elector meets the new eligibility criteria. Where you are satisfied that the applicant meets the new eligibility criteria, you must change the register marker to a B and send the applicant a Confirmation of Maintained Registration –  Correspondence based.3

It is also possible, although unlikely, that an elector may submit a new registration application during the review period and in their application confirm that they do not meet the new eligibility criteria. If you receive such an application, you must treat this as a response to the ECR and stop the chase cycle accordingly.4 You should then determine that the elector does not meet the new eligibility criteria and issue a Confirmation of Forthcoming Removal.

Where you receive other information during the review cycle

It is possible that you may receive other information during the course of the review cycle which means that you need to review the elector’s registration for an unrelated reason. For example, you may receive notice that the elector has moved or that their citizenship status has changed. In this scenario, you should stop the ECR chasing cycle and review the elector by whichever existing process you deem most appropriate.5

There may be individual cases where you receive information from an elector that they are unable to respond during the specified timeframes. For example, if they are away from their address for an extended period. In such circumstances, you should consider extending the time allowed for the elector to respond to you.