Electoral Administration Act 2006

Electoral Administration Act 2006

2006 CHAPTER 22

Commentary on Sections

Part 1: Co-ordinated On-line Record of Electors

Section 2 Use of CORE information

47. This section defines the uses to which information supplied to CORE may be put.

48. Where a CORE scheme provides for the keeper to hold copies of the full, or edited, or marked registers, he will be bound by regulations governing the supply and access to the registers in a similar way as would apply to an ERO (subsections (2) to (4)). These regulations govern the duty of EROs to supply copies, restrict who copies are supplied to and what use recipients may make of them, and allow EROs to charge for providing copies. A number of bodies are entitled, subject to these regulations, to receive copies for the performance of their functions and duties. These include: returning officers (to conduct an election); political parties and the Electoral Commission (to check financial donations); and credit reference agencies (for checking credit applications). In many cases such bodies will require information from every ERO in the UK.

49. Subsection (1) provides that a CORE keeper may be authorised, or required, to do certain things with the information he holds under the scheme. For example, where he has the duty of keeping the registers, he may be required to act as the single point of contact for giving access as regards every register in the area covered by the CORE scheme. Subsection (3) provides that a CORE scheme could modify the regulations governing access to information kept in a CORE scheme. Any such additional or varied provision applying to a CORE keeper would still have to be within the scope of the specified regulation-making powers.

50. CORE will keep information from multiple local electoral registers. A duty is imposed on CORE keepers to inform relevant EROs of duplicate information held in CORE in specified circumstances (subsections (5) and (6)). The CORE keeper may also provide such other information held in CORE as appears to relate to the performance of the EROs functions (subsection (7)).

51. A CORE scheme may allow individuals to access their details on-line to check that the information held is accurate. If a scheme provided for this, it would entitle the individual to request changes to that information (subsection (8)). This would not allow an individual on-line access to the whole register (subsection (10)). If an individual did request a change to their information, the keeper would be under a duty to pass that request on to the relevant ERO (subsection (9)), whether or not that ERO is at that time within the area covered by that CORE scheme (subsection (12)).

52. A CORE scheme may not widen the categories of electoral registration data that EROs have access to. Subsection (11) specifies that a CORE scheme must not allow one ERO to view on CORE the information provided by another, other than through the notification of duplicates outlined elsewhere in the section.