[2] In order to register under IER electors are required to provide their date of birth and evidence of their identity, most often a national insurance number.
In the rest of Britain and Ireland, people who claimed to be qualified voters simply presented themselves at the hustings to vote.
If a candidate who lost thought his defeat was due to ineligible voters, he could ask for a scrutiny, which would turn out to be an expensive and lengthy process in large constituencies.
However, not all qualified voters paid land tax, and eligibility was at the discretion of the returning officer as to who was permitted to vote.
The high sheriff of the county, or the mayor of a borough, would often abuse their authority as ex officio returning officers for partisan purposes.
Parliament attempted again in 1832, when Sir James Graham introduced legislation that would shift the focus of eligibility to the registration process.
The new Act of Parliament required that on 20 June in each year in the counties, the overseers publish a notice calling on prospective voters to make a claim and prove their eligibility to vote.
An elector who had paid his rates up to the start of the registration period did not need to make a claim, unless there had been a change of address or qualification.
Separate lists of people qualified to vote by virtue of their status as freemen of the borough were prepared by the Town Clerk.
A well-qualified person could be put to the time and trouble of defending his vote, even against a worthless objection, because if he did not appear his claim was automatically rejected.
Suffrage was also expanded—or restricted—by following Representation Acts: Organisations such as the Electoral Reform Society support moving towards automatic voter registration.