It’s too easy for people to manipulate selections for smaller parties that way when they don’t really support them. It could also easily harden people’s voting preferences – “I put Labour on the register, so I’m Labour”.
The more information we ask of people, the more likely that some will not register *at all*.
And people’s political views should be able to be kept private. Imagine a household where one spouse is a Tory and the other supports Labour, but doesn’t want their spouse to know…
Andrew: I don’t quite follow the privacy point because you could register as independent (if mandatory) or not register political views (if not mandatory). Ie it’s an issue that is important but very easy to deal with?
What I’ve been reading (via LibDig.co.uk)
No, for various reasons:
It’s too easy for people to manipulate selections for smaller parties that way when they don’t really support them. It could also easily harden people’s voting preferences – “I put Labour on the register, so I’m Labour”.
The more information we ask of people, the more likely that some will not register *at all*.
And people’s political views should be able to be kept private. Imagine a household where one spouse is a Tory and the other supports Labour, but doesn’t want their spouse to know…
Andrew: I don’t quite follow the privacy point because you could register as independent (if mandatory) or not register political views (if not mandatory). Ie it’s an issue that is important but very easy to deal with?