Good afternoon,
Having been advised by a depositor that post-1999 full electoral registers are subject to the Data Protection Act; we have been trying to establish the legal basis for any access restrictions.
The advice on the websites of various local authority offices doesn't seem to be consistent with the exception of no copies to be taken of registers less than 10 years old.
Section 99 (4) of the Representation of the People (England & Wales) Regulations 2001 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1871/made> says that the full register may be disclosed at the Office for National Statistics, under supervision. So, does this also apply to local authority archives where historical records are only viewed under supervision?
Whereas a House of Commons Library Research publication from the start of this year <https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01020/SN01020.pdf> states that copies of registers held by the national libraries may be inspected under similar circumstances to those registers held at a local council, i.e. under supervision.
Then Ancestry has a UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 database, which records: Name; Address; Years of Residence; and Birth Year Range.
So, should we restrict access to all registers less than 10 years, not just prohibit copying from them except for notetaking? Should such restrictions cover earlier registers, or, as they will be viewed by the public under supervision, are all archived full registers open with the only restriction being on copying?
Any assistance gratefully received.
Kind regards
Paul
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