Koeketiene
Well-known member
Is this a common problem?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-meant-i-didnt-officially-exist-10142337.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-meant-i-didnt-officially-exist-10142337.html
Floating voters: How living on a boat meant I didn't officially 'exist'
- Thread starter Koeketiene
- Start date
Carmel2
New member
I am registered, I use the marina address, and your vote is counted in your last post code area.
RAI
Well-known member
Pity she doesn't explain how she got registered in the end.
rivonia
Active member
Anyone can register to vote as long as they have not been out of the UK for longer than 15 years. You have to use your last registered UK address.
tcm
...
Erm, if you see it as a "problem", then long-distance cruising may not be for you? You don't "exist" for every country you visit. Does voting every 4-5 years really validate your existence anyway??
Jeva
Member
For those of you/us living on board all the year or saiing slowly around the world, have you tried renewing your SSR recently - in a nutshell, you're an alien.
macd
Active member
I daresay Google enfranchised her.
Tranona
Well-known member
No, you are not. You have to be resident in the UK, but not necessarily a UK citizen. Remember the whole purpose of the SSR was to provide a simple method of identification for UK based boats so that they could visit (mainly) France and comply with local requirements. You no longer seem to fall into that category. While the policing has been lax in the past there have been changes aimed at reducing the misuse of the system and bring it back to its original purpose.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
A quick read of the article confirms what I suspected: the author doesn't have a proper residential mooring. Difficulties with officialdom are inevitable when you break the rules like that. Tough
jerrytug
N/A
Why are they " inevitable"?
ChattingLil
Well-known member
Isn't that her whole point? It doesn't matter what your situation is - you shouldn't need to have a 'proper residential mooring' to exercise your right to vote.
jerrytug
N/A
Exactly, 90% of boat dwellers don't have a 'proper residential mooring', should it be routine that the many thousands of them routinely have 'trouble with the authorities'?
macd
Active member
I'm not familiar with many UK institutions any more, but is there still such a thing as a local government ombudsman? The response of Lois Pryce's local authority is clearly one of maladministration (compare it to Sassan's experience with his LA, in 'Comments'). Given the weight rightly attached to the right to vote, correct that: gross maladministration.
ChattingLil
Well-known member
Hadenough
Well-known member
OP seems to have disappeared?
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
The problems encountered by canal dwellers without residential moorings - whether genuine continuous cruisers or rule-breakers like the author of the article - are well documented. In the case of registering to vote it is perfectly reasonable that proof of residence in a particular constituency should be needed, as otherwise there would be clear opportunities for fraud.
macd
Active member
1. There are more places to moor than canals, and very different rules in force on them.
2. So because of the possibility of fraud by parties unknown, people who are entitled to vote but don't have a conventional address should be disenfranchised?
3. Whatever judgement one might make on '2', it is clear that the law does make provision for people of no fixed address being accepted on the electoral roll. Local authorities which contrive to subvert this are, by my reckoning, guilty of maladministration.
rivonia
Active member
As I have allready stated. If you have lived at a residential address in the UK with a registered post code. You can register to vote as long as you have not been away from that address for more than 15 years. Look it it up it is in the rules and regulations for voters. Try google. //www.gov.uk/register-to-vote this is the site.
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JumbleDuck
Well-known member
True, but this case is about a canal dweller.
No, but they can expect it to be difficult to prove a connection with a constituency. Perhaps there should be an MP especially for people in that position, though of course you're then have to prove that you didn't have a connection with a geographical constituency, which could be just as hard.
Agreed.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
It looks as if that applies for overseas votes. I don't think you get the choice of any constituency in which you have lived over the past fifteen years if you are a UK resident, do you?