One in four black, Asian voters aren’t registered to vote

ONE in four black and Asian origin people in the UK are not registered to vote, the Electoral Commission said on Monday (18).

The commission has called on the public to register to vote by November 26, ahead of December’s general election.

The commission’s data states that 25 per cent of the non-white voters in Britain are not registered.

It added that 24 per cent of Asian voters and almost a third (31 per cent) of eligible people with mixed ethnicity are not yet registered, compared to a 17 per cent average across the population.

Craig Westwood, Director of Communications, Policy and Research at the Electoral Commission, said: “Everyone eligible to vote should be able to do so, but must be registered by Tuesday, November 26.”

“It only takes five minutes to register to vote online – time that you might otherwise spend waiting for the kettle to boil or for a bus to arrive. So if you want to make sure your voice is heard, go online and register now.”

The commission estimates that between 8.3 million and 9.4 million eligible voters in Britain are not correctly registered at their current address.

“It is not possible to calculate the absolute number of people not correctly registered at their current address because the size of the population eligible to vote in Britain cannot be determined with certainty,” the commission said.

The calculation is, therefore, based on an estimate of completeness and an estimate of the total eligible population.

To vote in the general election, a person must be registered to vote, 18 years or over on polling day and also be either a UK or Irish citizen or a qualifying Commonwealth citizen resident in the UK, the commission said.