Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The finest democracy money can buy
Having recently moved back, I wondered how many of my old neighbours were still here. Off I went to the reference library to look at the electoral roll. “Sorry, you have to go to the Civic Centre”. The civic centre: “Sorry, we don’t have the staff to supervise you - you have to go to the the British Library”. After a mini-rant from me a lady came out and kindly did supervise me. To make sure I didn’t copy the list. Concern for people’s data privacy apparently.
Except that last week I got the new electoral form – with a huge amount of extra personal data demanded. And surprise surprise, hidden in the small print – your sacred data protection can be dumped, and you can copy as much as you like – but not if you simply want to get to know your neighbours. You have to be a company willing to flash some cash to the council. Can you protect yourself from the tsunami of spam, and junk mail hell resulting? Only if you notice the small print on the forms, and find and tick a little box, which for me didn’t work online.
At least all this might be a hint to new voters that British electoral democracy, once revered and respected world-wide for its Gladstonian incorruptibilty, is now literally open to the highest bidder.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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SC - you might be interested in this thread.
http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/the-way-you-register-to...
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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I'm disturbed to learn that you were initially refused access to the Electoral Registers in Haringey Civic Centre after first trying the library.
Many years ago I visited the Civic Centre when checking allegations that people had got their children into schools miles from where they lived, by using "home" addresses of empty flats. I called it "flats of convenience".
Not only were the then current Registers open to the public; I was able to search though bound copies of previous years. Those particular allegations were untrue. It seemed more likely that members of the school staff were being favoured.
In Autumn 2013 my wife Zena Brabazon looked up Electoral Registers in Haringey; and David Browne and Zena went to view Enfield's Registers. This was a vital part of their investigation into the vote-rigging scandal in the Labour Party's St Ann's ward candidate selection. They were able to check the addresses of people who had claimed (to the Labour Party) that their home addresses were in St Ann's ward, though a large number lived elsewhere. Several actually lived in Enfield.
People's real addresses are also important for consultation on public issues. Imagine, for instance, comments on a Planning Application where people use fake addresses. Or to inflate the numbers on a petition to the Council.
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P.S. The Government's website is clear on this issue.
"Your local Electoral Registration Office will tell you where you can view the current electoral register (it’s often available in libraries). The register will list everyone who’s registered to vote in the local area."
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Permalink Reply by Straw Cat on
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Well, the office did indeed tell me (at first) where to go - to the BL! And the lady was very clear that Haringey libraries were no longer "allowed" to keep the registers. So either Haringey or the Govt are now telling fibs. Or at best being disingenuous ...
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Not sure about libraries not being allowed to hold the register. See the advice for viewing on the gov.UK website
https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-register
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Before accepting the "information" over the phone from one member of staff, can I suggest, Straw Cat, that you check this with a formal request to George Cooper, Haringey's Electoral Services Manager. george.cooper@haringey.gov.uk
Frankly, I was also very dubious that someone would refer residents to the British Library. I haven't asked the British Library directly, but reading the BL website information about Electoral Register searches, suggested to me that the advice you got was probably nonsense on stilts.
Have a look at: http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/offpubs/electreg/electoral... - See page 9 especially.
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Thanks, I will certainly get on to Mr Cooper, and refer him to this discussion!
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Pleasantly surprised to see the news that the LGA actually agrees that Councils being compelled to sell elector lists “demeans our democracy” and are urging the Govt to scrap it! They say they hate selling them, and fear it discourages people from registering. Hope our local councillors will support this...
Councils plead with ministers to change the law to end the scourge ...
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I was once described as "counter suggestible". Which means that I'm sceptical when organisations like the Local Government Association talk about restricting access to information as democratic. My first thought is: "Okay, so what's the other side of the argument?"
And some counter arguments quickly come to my mind. So yes, while commercial companies are using these data in combination with other information to sell us stuff, one of the things they sell is quite useful to democrats. Like being able to find out fairly cheaply and legally - no hacking involved - things like who owns what and which companies they are directors of. Which includes councillors and senior council staff.
So good luck to journalists, campaigners, and local residents who use these different data sources to find out things the rich and powerful would probably prefer that we didn't know. For example, who are the landlords who've benefited from the Right-to-Buy legislation. (Today in the Guardian, Aditya Chakrabortty tells us that one in four Tory MPs are landlords, as are one in eight Labour MPs. Of course, not all of them are renting-out human hutches and kennels.) And a thank-you to journalist David Conn who researched the "assembly" of land in North Tottenham in preparation for the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Perhaps I'm not seeing this issue in a balanced way. But my working assumption is that the Local Government Association and other important people among our rulers, plus large corporations of course, will go on knowing all about us. What they really object to is us learning about them.
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Surely then what you are arguing for is is unhindered access at-cost to this information for anyone that wants or needs it – as the FoI Act was supposed to have legislated for. I expect the LGA are full of Lord Toby Harris types but in this case I’m with them in wanting the law changed so that electoral lists are accessible the same as any other council information – which is what I had believed before this episode.
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