By Mat Johnstone, News Editor
Around 800,000 people have dropped off the Electoral Register, many of them thought to be students, after changes to voting registration were introduced at the end of the year.
University towns were among the worst places affected by the changes which saw 1.8% of the voting population fall of the voting register, making them unable to participate in elections until they reregister.
Voting registration was previously done by households, but government changes made individuals sign up, resulting in the decrease in registered voters.
Student-heavy areas like Cambridge, Canterbury and Dundee West were the worst affected, and saw their voting populations falls by over ten per cent.
Shadow Minister for voter registration Gloria De Piero said: “IER prevents universities from block registering all their students in halls of residence, but measures should be taken to ensure that it is as easy as possible for individual students to register.”
Registration is still possibly until around three weeks before an election, so any voter who have dropped off the list as a result of these changes is able to reregister before the European referendum and the Scottish parliamentary elections this summer.
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