Electoral Administration Bill

I do not think that I needed one, actually. I commend the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) for tabling the amendment, because it probes the intentions of the Government, and it is of value to understand them. I was slightly worried that, at one point, the hon. Member for Hove (Ms Barlow) was going to demolish the whole principle of the electoral register on human rights grounds. I hope that that is not a path that we shall go down, although I know that she was doing it for the best of purposes. We have compulsory registration in this country, so the proposal is welcome in providing for the safety of individuals. The Minister might like to consider whether it would be appropriate for a court to make an order under domestic violence legislation that a person not be added to the electoral register, or that they be allowed to make an anonymous registration. I also agree that this matter should not be trivialised, and that we should not allow considerations of celebrity to be equated with risk. That could be an all too likely consequence of the Bill unless its intentions are made very clear. Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 deal with a slightly different matter. I am genuinely confused, because proposed new section 9B(6) seems to say that, if someone applies for an anonymous registration and fails, they should be removed from the register altogether. That does not seem consistent with the general terms of registration or with the expectation in the Bill that we should maximise voter registration. It would seem appropriate that, if someone were not entitled to anonymous registration, their application should be put into the register in the normal way. Of course, it might be expedient to put it into the part of the register that is not distributed; as we know, the register is now produced in two versions. It seems very odd that someone who has applied for anonymous registration, and who presumably does live at the stated address and has been checked out and found to be someone who should be properly registered, should, by statute, not be registered because they have failed to convince a registration officer that they were entitled to anonymous registration. Similarly, proposed new section 9C(3) states that, when someone ceases to be registered anonymously, they are required to be removed from the register unless they make a further application, rather than simply being added to the register as an ordinary registration, which logic would suggest is what ought to happen. Perhaps there is some cunning intent on the part of the Government here, or perhaps the drafting of the Bill leaves something to be desired. I would be grateful to find out from the Minister which it is.