Written question asked by Fraser Kemp (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 28 November 2005. It was answered by Baroness Harman (Labour) on Thursday, 1 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Franchise (Mobile Homes)

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what eligibility UK nationals with rights of residency in a mobile home for nine out of 12 months a year and a full-time address elsewhere in the UK have to vote in (a) general elections and (b) local elections in the UK in the constituency where the mobile home is located.

Answer: A UK national must be resident at an address within an electoral area to be included in the relevant register of electors. Residence is not defined in law but it has been ruled by the courts to entail a considerable degree of permanence. In practice, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) normally require someone to be resident at an address for four to six months of the year in order for them to be included in the electoral register. Provided the mobile home was permanently sited in a particular location for at least six months of each year and the elector could satisfy the ERO responsible for the electoral area where it was sited that he or she was resident in that mobile home during that period it is likely that the elector would be included in the relevant electoral registers and would therefore be entitled to vote there in any general or local election.

Secondary information