Bruce Napier wrote: > On 22 Dec 2009, at 18:21, Steve Wood wrote: > >> Those of us who move around as a lifestyle choice (e.g. >> continuous cruisers) are still not allowed to vote unless we lie on >> the >> registration form :-( > > > That's not quite right, IMHO. You can declare your address to be > anywhere you like, there's no definition of residence. So any > householder can choose to declare you as resident at his or her > property, as we do for our daughter's address for almost all purposes.
Indeed you can, but you don't live there so you're not being accurate on the form. As I said previously there are ways around the system. I won't register at my Mum's address, which is the address I use for all my post as this would then change her council tax status as she lives alone. I was also told a few years ago by a registration office that I could not use my then work address unless I was also moored in the constituency. Our electoral registration system is not responsive enough to allow me to vote where I am in the week of an election as I have to register 6 weeks in advance and have to be living in the constituency when I register. Ultimately I don't really get why I should need to associate myself with a specific location in order to have a say in how the country is run. There must be enough mobile people in the country for us to have our own MP, who will represent our very specific needs and concerns without caring where we're sleeping on a particular day. Unfortunately that sort of thinking is well out of the box so realistically it's not going to happen :( Steve NB Bream
