One in four black and Asian people ‘not registered to vote’

LONDON: One in four black and Asian people is not registered to vote, the Electoral Commission has said. Data released by the Commission estimates that 25 per cent of black voters in Great Britain are currently not registered, along with 24 per cent of Asian voters and 31 per cent of people with mixed ethnicity.

This compares with a nationwide average of 17 per cent who are not registered.Overall the Commission estimates that between 8.3 million and 9.4 million eligible voters in Great Britain are not correctly registered at their current address. Time is running out to register to vote in next month’s General Election.

The deadline to register is just over a week away, on Tuesday November 26.Craig Westwood, director of communications, policy and research at the Electoral Commission, said: “Everyone eligible to vote should be able to do so. It only takes five minutes to register to vote online - time that you might otherwise spend waiting for the kettle to boil or for a bus to arrive. So if you want to make sure your voice is heard, go online and register now.” To be able to vote in the General Election on December 12, a person must be registered to vote, 18 years or over on polling day, and also be either a UK or Irish citizen or a qualifying Commonwealth citizen resident in the UK.Applications to register to vote can be done online at gov.uk/registertovote.