Electoral Services Privacy Notice

This privacy notice sets out how Electoral Services will use and process your information. This privacy notice is to be read in conjunction with the full Gosport Borough Council privacy notice.

Overview

The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer act as data controllers, collecting the personal data you provide to register your right to vote and fulfil statutory responsibilities.

To vote in any election or referendum for which you are eligible, you must be registered. We have a legal duty to maintain a complete and accurate electoral register throughout the year. We only collect the personal data necessary to meet this requirement.

The legal basis for processing your data

The collection of your personal data is a task carried out in the public interest to ensure you are registered and able to vote in elections or referendums for which you are eligible. 

Under the law, you are required to provide information to the Electoral Registration Officer when requested. However, voting itself is not mandatory.

The collection, retention, and inspection of your data by Electoral Services is governed by various laws, including but not limited to:

• Local Government Acts 1972, 2000
• Representation of the People Acts 1983, 2001
• Local Elections (Principal Areas) Rules 2006
• Electoral Administration Act 2006
• Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) Regulations 2012
• Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
• Elections Act 2022

Type of information collected

We collect personal data directly from you or from others (e.g. council staff in other departments) who provide information relevant to this service. The Electoral Registration Officer is entitled for the purposes of maintaining the electoral register to inspect any other records held by Gosport Borough Council and imposes a duty to take necessary steps to maintain the electoral register which includes checking other available records. The information accessed may include records held relating to Council Tax, housing tenancy, housing benefits, education and Registrars data. This information is used to confirm existing entries in the register and identify individuals not yet registered or no longer resident.

We maintain records on potential and registered electors, non-eligible citizens, candidates, election agents, and staff employed by the Returning Officer or the Electoral Registration Officer. These records may be stored digitally (within software systems or as scanned documents) or in printed format. These records may include:

• Basic details - Name, address, date of birth, nationality
• Unique identifiers - National Insurance number, date of birth
• Application records - Scanned forms, documentary evidence, correspondence history, IP address for online applications
• Previous or forwarding addresses
• The names of other occupants and potential electors in a household
• Whether you are under 18 or over 76
• Opt-out status for the open register
• Your signature for absent vote applications (postal or proxy votes)
• Contact details - Telephone numbers, email addresses
• Voter ID - Your photograph (for Voter Authority Certificate applications)
• Court documents and attestations to support anonymous registration applications
• Details of service, service number, rank/rating and regiment for members of the armed forces or their spouses registering as service voters
• Employment details for Crown Servants/British Council employees or their spouses
• Names and contact details for landlords and other persons responsible for multiple occupancy dwellings, care homes and sheltered housing
• Responses to consultations and surveys

In addition, if you work for the Returning Officer or Electoral Registration Officer:

• Tax status
• National Insurance number
• Bank details
• Next of kin / emergency contact details
• Details of previous employment 
• Proof of eligibility to work in the UK

If you are a candidate, an appointed agent or a campaigner at an election we may also hold these details:

• Political party affiliation
• Campaign group affiliation

How we use your information

Electoral Services undertake the following tasks on behalf of the Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer:

• Process voter registration applications
• Handle postal and proxy vote applications
• Process applications for Voter Authority Certificates
• Undertake an annual canvass of households (this may include contacting you directly using email or phone contact details provided by you)
• Identify potential voters and encourage voter registration
• Organise elections and referendums
• Administer the voting process including polling stations and absent voting
• Administer the nomination of election candidates and the appointment of agents
• Prepare statutory election documents and notices including poll cards
• Recruit and manage election staff

Who your information may be shared with

Electoral Services manage electoral registers using the information provided. There are two types of registers:

• The Full Electoral Register - Used for electoral and legal purposes
• The Open Register - Available for sale to businesses and organisations.

The Full Electoral Register is published annually and updated monthly. It may only be supplied to specific people and organisations as permitted by law, including:

• The British Library
• UK Statistics Authority
• Electoral Commission
• Boundary Commission for England
• Jury Summoning Bureau
• Elected Representatives (MPs, County Councillors & Local Councillors)
• Police and Crime Commissioner
• Candidates standing for elections
• Local and National Political Parties
• The Council
• Police Forces, National Crime Agency, and Security Services
• Public Libraries and Local Authority Archive Services
• Government Departments and Bodies
• Credit Reference Agencies
• National Fraud Initiative
• Partner Electoral Registration and Returning Officers

We also share your data with our software providers and contracted printers to carry out electoral registration and election duties. Strict safeguards are in place for this. It is a criminal offence for anyone with access to the full register to use or share it for any purpose not permitted by law.

Inspecting the Full Electoral Register

The electoral register is available for public inspection under the following conditions:

• Access is supervised
• Notes may only be taken by hand
• Information must not be used for direct marketing 
• Anyone who fails to observe these conditions is committing a criminal offence and may incur a penalty of up to £5,000.

The Open Register

• Contains the names and addresses of those who have not opted out from appearing on it
• Is updated monthly and may be sold to businesses, charities, and marketing firms
• Used for identity verification by direct marketing and online directory companies

You can opt out from appearing on the open register at any time - this will not affect your right to vote.

To verify your identity when your register to vote, apply for a Voter Authority Certificate or apply for an absent vote, the data you provide will be shared electronically with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government suppliers that are data processors. Data may be collected via the GOV.UK citizen facing application services and processed in the Electoral Registration Officer Portal provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. You can find more information about this at GOV.UK.

Staffing data may be shared with other Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers as appropriate. All staff details will also be shared with our payroll team and HMRC to make payments.

Details of candidates, election agents, subscribers to nomination papers and other political campaigners may be published where the law requires.

How long we keep your information for

The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer are required to process personal data for electoral registration and the administration of elections. Your information is retained in accordance with legal obligations and statutory retention periods.

The Electoral Register is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure accuracy, with updates published monthly. 

Your rights

You are entitled to request a copy of any information that we hold about you. Any such requests must be made in writing. In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person. If the information we hold about you is inaccurate you have a right to have this corrected and you have a right to request completion of incomplete data.

You have the right to request the erasure of your personal data in certain circumstances ('right to be forgotten'). You have the right to request that we stop, or restrict the processing of your personal data, in certain circumstances. Where possible we will seek to comply with your request, but we may be required to hold or process information to comply with a legal requirement.

The Data Protection Act 2018 also allows you other rights; for example, if there is an error in your records you have the right to make sure it is rectified or erased. You have the right to opt out of the open register at any time, and we must remove you from this version and tell statutory recipients in the next update. You have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we must self-report breaches to the Information Commissioner.

If you're dissatisfied with how the Electoral Registration Officer/Returning Officer has used your personal information you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office by calling 0303 123 1113.

Contact us

If you have a concern or question about how we collect or use your personal data please contact Electoral Services.

Alternatively, you can contact the council's Data Protection Officer:

• By post: Data Protection Officer, Gosport Borough Council, Town Hall, High Street, Gosport, PO12 1EB
• Email:  foi@gosport.gov.uk
• Telephone: 023 9258 4242