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<p>The pilots to test the confirmation of existing electors were carried out between September and December 2012. These pilots tested whether entries on the electoral register could be successfully matched with data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, thereby simplifying the transition to individual electoral registration for the majority of current electors.</p><p>The electoral registers of the 14 pilot local authorities were matched against the DWP records at two points in time: prior to the annual canvass: and afterwards. The sample of authorities participating was spread across England, Scotland and Wales with a mix of urban and rural councils, and varying in size from Lothian to Ceredigion.</p><p>The Cabinet Office undertook a preliminary evaluation in December 2012; at the same time the Electoral Commission independently evaluated the pilots and both organisations published their findings on 6 December 2012. These reports are available at:</p><p>http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/transition-individual-electoral-registration</p><p>http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/152747/Data-matching-confirmation-pilots-interim-findings.pdf</p><p>The preliminary results showed that on average 71% of entries could be positively matched and confirmed. The confirmation rate varied between areas, from 55% in Tower Hamlets to 83% in Wigan.</p><p>In summary the Electoral Commission agreed that the confirmation of electors to move them on to the IER register should be pursued, and they recommended that further options for increasing the proportion of electoral register entries that can be confirmed should be explored as this would make the transition to IER simpler for voters and more cost-effective.</p><p>A full report on the data matching pilots will be published in March 2013. This will include results of in-depth qualitative interviews with the participants in</p><p>the 14 pilot areas, which explored their experience of the process of confirmation and views on the effectiveness of the pilots.</p><p>The data mining pilots are scheduled to begin in February 2013. These pilot projects will test data matching with other national data sets for the purpose of finding individuals not registered, with a view to improving the completeness of electoral registers. A statutory instrument authorising this scheme was passed by both Houses and made by the Minister on 19 December 2012. The Cabinet Office evaluation of these projects will be published in July 2013.</p> |