Electoral services privacy notice

1 Council Contact Details

1.1 North Northamptonshire Council

Registered Office:

Sheerness House
41 Meadow Road
Kettering
NN16 8TL

1.2 The Electoral service can be contacted at [email protected]

1.3 The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer is a data controller separate from North Northamptonshire Council and collects personal data you provide for the purposes of ensuring all eligible persons are registered to vote and can participate in any election or referendum that they are eligible to vote in.

1.4 The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer for North Northamptonshire Council is registered with the Information Commissioners Office. Their registration number is ZA928928.

2 Information that we hold

2.1 The Electoral Registration Officer has a duty to maintain a complete and accurate register throughout the year. This requires the collecting and processing your following personal information including but not limited to:

Name
Address
Contact Information (optional - email address, telephone number)
Date of birth
National insurance number
Nationalities
Signatures for absent vote checking
Photographs, Evidence, Application forms for Voter Authority Certificates, Anonymous Elector Documents
Scanned application forms and dates of any letters or other correspondence
Notes about any relevant circumstances that you have told us
Previous or any redirected address
The other occupants in your home
If you are aged over 76 or under 18 years of age
Whether you have chosen to opt out of the open version of the register
Name, address, contact and bank details for employment of casual staff.
Personal data of individuals entitled to request and be supplied with copies of the register such as ward councillors, parish councillors and parish clerks

2.2 The Returning Officer enacting upon their duty to provide elections and referendums, requires the collecting and processing of information including but not limited to:

Name
Address
Contact Information (optional – email address, telephone number)
Date of birth
Nationality
National Insurance
Electoral Markers (such as, if aged over 76 or under 18 years of age)
Signatures for absent vote checking
Application forms, signatures and other correspondence
Information about any relevant circumstances that you have told us
Your previous, current or any redirected address
Details of whether you have voted (but not who or what you voted for)
Details of anyone assisting you to vote in a polling station or absent voting arrangement
Personal data relating to candidates, agents, venue booking agents, subscribers and key holders
Personal data of individuals entitled to request and be supplied with copies of the register such as ward councillors, parish councillors and parish clerks
Proof of identification documents
Your previous or redirected address
Other occupants in your home
Whether you have chosen to opt out of the open version of the electoral register.
Name, address, contact information; and bank details for staff we employ at elections.

2.3 We may ask for a passport style photograph, evidence of your identity or eligibility in connection with your registration or applications for a Voter Authority Certificate, Temporary Voter Authority Certificate or Anonymous Electors Document.

2.4 We may also check your immigration status with the Home Office.

3 How the information is obtained

3.1 Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly from the following sources, for one of the following reasons, through the following means:

From you, in order to add your details to the electoral register for the purposes of voting in elections and obtaining credit
Local datasets such as Council Tax and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to compare information and check details are correct
Personal information indirectly from other members of your household or someone connected to the property such as a landlord or owner
Residential care homes, Student Registration Services, Registration Services; and sheltered accommodation in connection with maintaining up to date information for the register of electors

3.2 There are a number of reasons why we need to collect and use your personal information. Generally, we collect and use personal information where:

it is necessary to meet our legal obligations
for the performance of a public interest task which has a clear basis in law (see above) or in the exercise of official authority vested in the ERO and RO as Data Controller i.e. maintaining the register of electors, in the public interest, as provided for in electoral law.
you have requested a service from us
you have entered into a contract with us
it is necessary to protect public health
it is required for the defence of legal cases
it is needed for employment purposes
you, or your legal representative, have given us your consent
you have made your information publicly available
it is necessary for law enforcement reasons and to prevent, and detect fraud or crime
we need to protect individuals from harm (in an emergency); or
it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes. For some of these purposes your data would be used in a pseudonymised format (name and other identifying information replaced with a unique number)

3.3 The applicable governing and relevant legislation includes but is not limited to:

Juries Act 1974
Representation of the People Act 1983
Representation of the People Regulations 2001
Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
Representation of the People Regulations (Annual Canvass) (Amendment Regulations 2019
Elections Act 2022

4 What we do with the information

4.1 The information you provide will be held within our electoral management software (EMS) and updated in accordance with our legal obligations used in maintaining the register of electors and providing all elections / referenda for the area.

4.2 We will use the information you provide to check whether you are eligible to vote. If you are entitled to register, your name and address will be added to the electoral register together with details of the elections you are able to vote in.

4.3 Your information may also be included on the open register (known as the edited register). Anyone can buy a copy of the open register, but you have the option whether or not you wish your details to be included in this version of the register.

4.4 Your contact information will be used by us to communicate with you about your registration. It may also be used to contact you in the event of a public health emergency and may be shared with other organisations / councils as part of this process. It will not be included in either the electoral register or open register.

4.5 It may be necessary to share your personal information internally or externally, with the following, under certain regulations as stated within this privacy notice or if you have not opted out of the open register.

If you apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, Temporary Voter Authority Certificate or Anonymous Elector Document, the data you provide is used to determine and process the application and notify you of the outcome. This will require us to share your data confidentially with certain partners and service providers, such as centralised printing services and the IER Digital Services Team, based within the Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing (DLUCH).
Contracted local authority print and mailing house companies to print poll cards, postal packs, electoral registration letters, canvass communications and other election/electoral registration material.
Contracted software providers to maintain our EMS, resolve technical issues and process automated response services.
The Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service (IERDS), made up of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Cabinet Office who are data processors for IERDS. As part of the electoral registration process your details are data matched against information held by the IERDS. You may receive different Canvass Communications from the Electoral Registration Officer determined by the outcome of the data matching process. See our Canvass Reform Privacy Notice.
To verify your identity, data you provide will be processed by the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service managed by the Cabinet Office. As part of this process, your data will be shared with the Department of Work and Pensions and the Cabinet Officers suppliers that are data processors for the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service. You can find more information on the register to vote government website.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) – who provide the IT system used for Voter Authority Certificates applications. As part of the determination process your details are data matched against other records. You may receive different Communications from the Electoral Registration Officer dependent on the outcome of the data matching process.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) – who check the National Insurance Number you provide against their own records, as part of verifying your identity for Voter Authority Certificate applications.
Canvassers, Poll Card Deliverers, Elections staff, registered political parties, elected representatives, candidates, agents, local constituency parties, elected representatives, town and parish councils, candidates at elections and other permitted participants.
Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers.
North Northamptonshire Council can use the register for duties relating to security, enforcing the law and preventing crime.
Public Services Partnership Services Ltd (PSPS) - for the purpose of confirming elector registration and handling limited enquiries (Customer Services) and for processing of election/canvass staff payments (HR/Payroll).
The police and the security services can access information from the register for law enforcement.
HM Courts and Tribunal Service
Jury Summoning Bureau - indicating those persons who are aged 76 or over who are no longer eligible for jury service.
Members of public who wish to inspect the current register under supervision for errors and omissions, etc.
The British Library receive historic copies of the register that anyone can look at under supervision.
Credit reference agencies, the British Library, the Boundary Commission (which sets constituency boundaries for most elections), Office for National Statistics, the Electoral Commission and other statutory recipients of the Electoral Register.
Details of whether you have voted (but not who or what you voted for) to those who are entitled in law to receive it after an election.
When the law requires us to pass on information under special circumstances, such as where the health and safety of others is at risk.
Crime prevention or the detection of fraud as part of the National Fraud Initiative; and Police Forces and other agencies for the prevention or detection of crime.
Other local authorities for the purposes of maintaining an accurate Electoral Register for the relevant local area, as well as checking Proxy Voter arrangements for elections.
The Returning Officer
West Northamptonshire Council for joint working such as Northamptonshire Elections.
Individuals entitled to request and be supplied with copies of the register such as ward councillors, parish councillors and parish clerks.

4.6 Anyone can inspect the full electoral register but must observe the following:

Inspection of the register will be under supervision
Those inspecting it may take extracts from the register, but only by handwritten notes
Information taken must not be used for direct marketing purposes, in accordance with data protection legislation, unless it has been published in the open version
Anyone who fails to observe these conditions is committing a criminal offence and may incur a penalty of an unlimited fine.

4.7 The open register contains the details of all electors who have not opted-out of the open version of the register and is not used for elections or referendums. It is updated and published every month and may be sold to any person, organisation or company for any purpose such as checking of name and address details and direct marketing.

4.8 You can choose whether or not to have your personal details included in the open version of the register; however, they will be included unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register will not affect your right to vote.

4.9 Automated decision-making is where decisions are made about you without any human influence on the outcome. These may affect your legal rights or have an impact on your circumstances, behaviour or choices. As part of the electoral registration process your household details are data matched against information held by the IERDS. The Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service (IERDS), is made up of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Cabinet Office who are data processors for IERDS. You may receive different Canvass Communications from the Electoral Registration Officer determined by the outcome of the data matching process.

4.10 There is no profiling undertaken in relation to equalities processing. Profiling is where you analyse parts of an individual’s personality, behaviour, interests and habits to identify their preferences, make predictions or decisions about them.

5 How long we keep your information for and how we securely dispose of it after use

5.1 Every year we are required by law to update the Electoral Register with additions, amendments and deletions of electors. Previous copies of the electoral register are archived and not available for inspection by the public.

5.2 The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer need to process your personal data in order to prepare for and conduct elections. Your details will be updated in accordance with our legal obligations and retained in line with statutory retention periods and our retention schedule. We will securely dispose of your information once it is no longer required for processing.

5.3 We will only keep your contact information (email / telephone number only) for as long as you consent. You can ask that we no longer use your contact details, should you wish to exercise this right, please contact the Data Protection Officer detailed in section 8.1 below.

5.4 All data provided for Voter Authority Certificate applications (including copies of evidence, photographs and paper applications) are held for 28 days after the certificate is issued before being deleted. If an application is rejected, then data will be held for a year. Once the relevant time period has elapsed, data will be deleted except for name, date of issue and certificate number where a certificate has been issued.

6 How we store your information

6.1 Any information held on our electoral management software (EMS), on the council’s systems and paper forms or correspondence are kept in secure storage.

6.2 A document retention schedule is used to ensure that any such data is acquired in compliance with data protection principles detailed within this privacy notice, not retained for longer than necessary and is erased in line with statutory periods.

7 Your data protection rights

7.1 The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how we can use it. For further information, please see section 15 of the council’s Corporate Privacy Notice.

7.2 Please be aware that your rights may differ depending on the lawful basis for processing your personal data.

7.3 The right to withdraw consent can be applied to the use of your contact details (email and telephone number). If you wish to exercise this right, please contact the Data Protection Officer detailed in section 8.1 below.

8 Who to contact

8.1 If you would like further information about how we use your personal information, or you wish to exercise one of your data rights or you wish to complain about the use of your personal information please contact the Data Protection Officer.

8.2 If you are still dissatisfied once you have contacted the Data Protection Officer, you have the right to complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

9 Changes to this privacy notice

9.1 Privacy notices are live documents, which will be updated or revised in line with legislation

Last updated 19 March 2023