- Conference
- 2016 Higher Education Service Group Conference
- Date
- 16 October 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the following:
1)That the previous coalition government passed the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013, which made provision for Individual Electoral Registration (IER). This will replace the previous electoral registration system, whereby one person was responsible for registering the entire household.
2)That the Tory government elected in May 2015 intends to pursue boundary changes, reducing the number of UK Parliamentary seats from 650 to 600. These boundary changes would favour the Tories.
3)That these boundary changes would be based on the number of registered voters in each constituency, as the intention is to make the number of voters similar in each constituency with the redrawn boundaries.
Conference is deeply concerned that the combination of IER and boundary changes will not only increase the likelihood of the Tories being permanently in government, with serious implications for UNISON members; it will also leave many young voters disenfranchised, as they are less likely to be registered to vote, and to vote, than older voters.
Conference is aware that, whereas voters could previously be registered at more than one address, they can now only be registered at one address. This affects students, many of whom may not realise the need to ensure they are registered to vote at their term address, rather than their permanent home address, as most national, local and European elections take place during term-time. Conference believes that Higher Education branches have a duty to engage with the student population.
Conference therefore calls on UNISON’s Higher Education Executive to work with UNISON Labour Link and student unions to run a voter registration drive, targeted at students.