Students are no longer automatically registered to vote by the University, it has emerged.
The information was revealed in a small note in a student news bulletin from the University on October 20th and a number of JCR Presidents have warned their JCRs.
A University spokesperson said: “The change has taken place as a result of a change in the law designed to reduce electoral fraud. Under the new system, people who are registering need to provide a few more details to identify themselves. The new process will also gives people the option to register online for the first time.”
The spokesperson explained that colleges will be “forwarding Oxford City Council’s formal invitation to register”, saying:
“These invitations will arrive in individual student pigeon holes either this week or early next. Students should then be able to follow the instructions to register themselves online. It is a simple process which should take no more than five minutes and should give students ample opportunity to register to vote.”
OUSU President Louis Trup told the OxStu: “Ruth (our Vice-President for Charities and Community) and I have been working on ensuring students know about the changes to voter registration. We have met with representatives of the Council, Brookes Student Union and Ruskin Student Union to find ways of making sure that all students in Oxford know about these changes. This lead to there being a stall at OUSU Freshers’ Fair dedicated to voter registration.
“We are also working with Bart Ashton, Chairman of the Domestic Bursars’ Committee, to ensure that college authorities know about the changes and make it as easy as possible for students to register to vote. We will soon be launching a large campaign aiming to inform every student about how to register so look out for that!”
Trup added: “On November 3rd, I will be presenting to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Students on this issue.I intend to highlight how the changes to voter registration will affect students and the ways in which students should be informed of these changes.”
