Does not being on the electoral roll suggest an offence has been committed?

Djgr · 24 Feb 2020

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/issued-a-penalty-fare-notice-what-is-this.200946/

leedbow said:
No idea. She argued on me for ages because she couldn't find me on the electoral roll (...because I'm not on the electoral role, which she found suspicious) and even threatened to have me arrested. Not the most sociable of people! I think that once her power trip was satisfied she grew bored with me. Then slowly scribbled lots down on a big thick A5 notepad, tore off the top copy and kept the duplicate, then told me that I had 21 days to pay the £75 or appeal.

Figures aside, if it's not a Penalty Fare, any idea what it might be (...since I've lost it) and what I might need to do?

That's because not being on the electoral roll is suggestive that a criminal and/or civil offence has been committed.

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IanD · 24 Feb 2020

Djgr said:
That's because not being on the electoral roll is suggestive that a criminal and/or civil offence has been committed.

Or that you haven't bothered to register. Or that you are not eligible to vote in UK elections so there is no need to register

Djgr · 24 Feb 2020

IanD said:
Or that you haven't bothered to register. Or that you are not eligible to vote in UK elections so there is no need to register

"haven't bothered to register" is generally a criminal and/or civil offence

Bletchleyite · 24 Feb 2020

Djgr said:
"haven't bothered to register" is generally a criminal and/or civil offence

However choosing not to be on the edited register is not. TOCs wouldn't have access to the "internal" one that exists purely for electoral purposes. Nor do banks, so it can give you a worse credit score.

John Webb · 24 Feb 2020

Djgr said:
"haven't bothered to register" is generally a criminal and/or civil offence

And some of us keep off the public (edited) Electoral Register because it attracts unwanted attention from those who would love to carry out a criminal fraud or other offence on us!

MikeWh · 24 Feb 2020

IanD said:
Or that you haven't bothered to register. Or that you are not eligible to vote in UK elections so there is no need to register

Foreign (particularly EU) citizens are eligible to vote in local elections, just not general elections.

Bletchleyite said:
TOCs wouldn't have access to the "internal" one that exists purely for electoral purposes. Nor do banks, so it can give you a worse credit score.

Credit reference agencies do have access to the full electoral roll so your score would not be affected by not being on the edited one. I'm not certain, but I think TOCs use an identification service which I'm sure also has access to the full roll.

some bloke · 25 Feb 2020

WesternLancer said:
it is also an offence to not be on the electoral roll

I can't see evidence of that, rather than a civil liability if you fail to comply with a specific request.

@paddington has addressed the point above.

"A registration officer may impose a civil penalty on a person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed by the officer under subsection (4)."

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/6/part/1/enacted

WesternLancer · 25 Feb 2020

some bloke said:
I can't see evidence of that, rather than a civil liability if you fail to comply with a specific request.

@paddington has addressed the point above.

"A registration officer may impose a civil penalty on a person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed by the officer under subsection (4)."

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/6/part/1/enacted

Yep, I used the term loosly, apols. But the law requires you to be on the role apart from certain exemptions, which OP may or may not have, we do not know.

Even if not a citizen or no right to vote in UK I have always understood that you must register - then codes against your name on the register indicate to elections staff that you are not to be issued with a ballot paper were you to try to vote on an election day or apply for a postal ballot etc. I may be wrong however. It's off topic really anyway!

some bloke · 26 Feb 2020

WesternLancer said:
the law requires you to be on the role apart from certain exemptions... I have always understood that you must register...It's off topic really anyway!

It might be, or become, relevant to @leedbow if he thinks he has a legal duty to do something. In a brief attempt to clarify in case it's helpful to anyone:

It isn't obvious to me that a person has to do anything unless there is a specific "requirement imposed by the officer" (for the civil penalty under the 2013 Act above) or a specific "requisition" (for the criminal liability under the 2001 Representation of the People Regulations). If you haven't received the specific request or form, perhaps because someone else dealt with the incoming post, then we might hope no court would agree with a penalty, or allegation of an offence!

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/341/regulation/23/made

From 2014: "some local authorities do prosecute householders who do not return the canvass forms."
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06940/SN06940.pdf

Djgr · 26 Feb 2020

The original point was that not being on the Electoral Roll was seen as a negative "flag" for the behaviour of the OP. And adopting a profiling approach to this I would tend to agree.

jumble · 28 Feb 2020

Djgr said:
That's because not being on the electoral roll is suggestive that a criminal and/or civil offence has been committed.

some bloke said:
I can't see evidence of that, rather than a civil liability if you fail to comply with a specific request.

@paddington has addressed the point above.

"A registration officer may impose a civil penalty on a person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed by the officer under subsection (4)."

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/6/part/1/enacted

They may but My understanding is that it is in practice hardly ever enforced presumably because it is quite hard to catch up with someone who is avoiding the authorities

WesternLancer · 28 Feb 2020

jumble said:
They may but My understanding is that it is in practice hardly ever enforced presumably because it is quite hard to catch up with someone who is avoiding the authorities

Yes, tho my council deny you access to certain services if you are not on the roll.

Busaholic · 1 Mar 2020

I've always been on the electoral roll. However, I've been known to change address once or twice since my first entry in 1969, and so there have been periods when my current address doesn't contain my name. Perhaps we should have a Psychic Roll so we can guess at exactly which address we're living in future, so we're already on it when the Inspector Calls. :lol:

Does not being on the electoral roll suggest an offence has been committed?

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