Under the new system individuals are required to register themselves, as well as provide their National Insurance number and date of birth on the application form so that their identity can be verified.
[4] In September 2010, Mark Harper, the government's Minister for Constitutional Reform, announced the plan.
[4] A spokesman for the Electoral Reform Society, an independent NGO, expressed some reservations: "You're potentially looking at registration rates in the 50% region.
[4] One recent study has also suggested that it will lead to a decline in electoral registration, unless other measures are put in place to offset these reductions.
[5] The Government has stated that 35 million voters will be transferred to the new system automatically as their identity can be verified using the Department for Work and Pensions database.