As an ex-Data Protection Officer, and for many years a Presiding Officer
within a Polling Station, as well as experience of working within an
Electoral Registration Office, I would like to put the record straight.
The 'Unique identifier' refererred to is your electoral number for that
year, and changes from year to year, depending on the number of people who
are on the register.
It is put on the counterfoil of the ballot paper so that in the case that
the election is contested, evidence can be provided. I can assure you that
the ballot papers once counted and the counterfoils never meet once they
are separated unless this happens. Also these are not kept for more than
1-2 years, the same applies for local authority elections.
I do not feel that there are data protection implications. The ballot is
secret, and no one has access to the ballot papers unless it is formally
contested. The Electoral Register is a public document and can be viewed
by anyone.
I do not think we need to get too concerned about this, elections have been
going on a long time, and processes are in place to protect the identify
of individuals.
Beverley Windibank
Administrative Manager
Southampton Institute
Stuart Cashmore <[log in to unmask]>@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> on
07/06/2001 14:28:59
Please respond to Stuart Cashmore <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
cc: (bcc: Beverley Windibank/Registry/Southampton Institute)
Subject: Re: Voting
This has been one of my greatest sources of annoyance ever since I have
been
able to vote, which was some years before DPA 1984. We pride ourselves in
this country on our democracy and the "privacy" of the polling booth, and
yet every ballot paper has a unique identifier on it which links back to
your personal entry on the list of electors. And all of that information is
kept, by statute, for (I believe) 100 years!
It would be perfectly possibly for an "extreme" government to sift through
this and identify individuals who had voted for the "other lot". It would
certainly be a labour intensive task, but the kind of government that would
wish to do that in the first place is unlikely to be deterred by the effort
involved.
And all of that before we consider the DPA implications...
Stuart Cashmore
Management Information Projects Manager
McKessonHBOC (UK), No. 1 Nine Elms Lane, LONDON SW8 5RR
Tel. 020-7819 5083 (with Voicemail)
Mob. 07799-790019
Fax. 020-7819 5100
e-mail [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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