Electoral Register (Hansard, 31 July 1997)

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision for electoral registration will be made for voters permanently resident in hospitals who are unable to register under the hospital's address. [12082]

§ Mr. George Howarth
The electoral registration officer is required by law to register all those who are resident in his or her area who appear to him or her to be eligible to vote. Only those who are patients in mental hospitals, whether voluntary or detained, are prevented by law from using, for the purposes of electoral registration, the address of the hospital in which they are resident.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions he will make for the registration of homeless voters for forthcoming by-elections and referendums. [12083]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
Guidance issued to electoral registration officers makes it clear that no one should be denied the right to register simply because he or she is homeless. Although an elector must be registered at an address at which he or she is resident, that address need not be a conventional one. Any person who may have been missed off the register can make a claim to be added to it after publication, and it is for EROs to determine on the facts of each case whether an individual is eligible to register.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he plans to take to ensure that disabled voters have equal opportunities to register and vote in forthcoming by-elections and referendums. [12081]

§ Mr. O'Brien
It is the statutory duty of each electoral registration officer to include on the register for the area in which he acts the names of all those who appear to him to be eligible. Any eligible elector who may have been missed off the register can make a claim to be added to it after publication. District and London borough councils are statutorily required to designate as polling places, so far as is reasonable and practicable, only places which are accessible to the disabled. Acting returning officers may also apply to the Home Office or the Scottish Office for grants towards the cost of providing temporary ramps and polling screens adapted for use by the disabled which may be used at elections and referendums. There is no cap on the number of applications which the acting returning officer may make for grant assistance.