Electoral Registration

Philip asks the Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs about the use of NI numbers in electoral registration

Mr. Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con): What her policy is on the use of national insurance numbers as an identifier in electoral registration. [9185]

Ms Harman: Outside of Northern Ireland, we have no plans to require national insurance numbers as a condition of going on the electoral register.

Mr. Dunne: Does the Minister agree that restoring faith in the security of electoral registration and in postal voting is vital for increasing voter participation? Does she also agree that relying on signatures and dates of birth is not sufficient to eradicate fraud, and that we should consider using national insurance numbers, as they do in Northern Ireland?

Ms Harman: I agree that it is vital to tighten security. I also agree that it is vital that people believe that the voting system is secure and that their votes are properly and fairly counted. However, I invite the hon. Gentleman to recognise, as the Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Committee and the Electoral Commission have recognised, that there is, I am afraid, a trade-off between access to the register and full enfranchisement of all our fellow citizens on the one hand and security on the other. If, for example, we required everyone to come to the town hall with their passports and further proof of identification, we would have 100 per cent. certainty that there was no fraud-or at least a much better level of certainty than we have now. However, that would disfranchise loads of people from voting. We have to strike the right balance between access to the ballot box and security.

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