Nick Clegg aiming to locate 3.5 million missing voters

Deputy prime minister wants law change so that individuals, not households, register to vote
Ballot count
Ballot papers are counted in Gordon Brown's constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the general election. But too many people who are eligible to vote fail to do so. Photograph: Graham Stuart/EPA


In an attempt to reach out to critics, who say the government is gerrymandering parliamentary constituencies in favour of the coalition, the deputy prime minister will unveil plans to increase voting in areas of high social deprivation.

Clegg will tell the Hansard Society that from next year the government will attempt to locate missing voters by piloting a system of data-matching. This will allow local authorities to compare information on databases such as council tax records with the electoral register to identify missing voters.

Clegg will say: "It is not good enough to simply ignore the millions who aren't registered, especially when you look more closely at where the problem is worst: among the young; among black and ethnic minority communities; in areas with high social deprivation. The coalition government is clear: these missing millions must be given back their voice. There is no magic wand solution; but, equally, there is no excuse for inaction."

He will also announce that the government will try to reduce electoral fraud by changing the law so that individuals will register to vote, unlike the current system in which a household's members are simply listed on the electoral register. "People must have confidence in the system, and know that it is secure against fraud," Clegg will say of the proposals, which are to be included in a new political and constitutional reform bill to be introduced next year.

"So we are committed to tackling fraud by speeding up the move to individual – as opposed to household – registration. That will be introduced in 2014, as opposed to after the next election as the previous government proposed.

"People will need to register themselves, and provide a signature, national insurance number and date of birth."

Targeting the missing millions in deprived areas is designed to address critics who say that the coalition's plans to shrink the House of Commons will penalise Labour voters.

A separate parliamentary bill, which was yesterday challenged unsuccessfully in the House of Lords by Labour, will reduce the House of Commons by 10% by equalising the size of parliamentary constituencies.

The Tories claim that Labour-held seats often have smaller constituencies, particularly in Scotland and Wales, which means that it takes more voters to elect a Conservative MP.

Labour says there are fewer people registered in many of its constituencies because they tend to be in more deprived areas where many of its natural supporters fail to register to vote.

Lord Falconer, the former Labour chancellor, failed in a bid to delay the current parliamentary bill that will equalise constituencies.

Falconer argued that the bill was hybrid, and should be referred to a committee of examiners, because two island constituencies in Scotland have been exempted from its provisions.

Peers voted by 224 to 210, a government majority of 14, to reject Falconer's move, allowing a debate on the second reading of the bill to take place in the upper house.

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