The Poll Tax And The Franchise

EDM number 982 in 1989-90, proposed by Harry Barnes on 10/05/1990.

That this House notes that under a universal franchise there has correctly been a close correlation between the numbers of people on electoral registers within Great Britain and the estimated equivalent population of those who are 18 years of age and over; is therefore shocked to discover that since the introduction of the poll tax and the interconnections that subsequently exist between electoral and poll tax registration, on the above basis there are over 600,000 people missing from the current and recently used local government electoral registers in Great Britain; further notes that under-registration is unevenly distributed and that there are alarming pockets of non-registration including the parliamentary constituency of Finchley where the electorate fell by 4.6 per cent. between 1988 and 1989 and has fallen by a further 3.9 per cent. in the past year; also notes that the overall decline in electoral registration has not occurred in Northern Ireland where the poll tax has not not been introduced; and therefore concludes that the poll tax is incompatible with the operation of a universal franchise and should be abolished forthwith because any attempts to amend its operation cannot overcome its fundamental characteristic which is one of undermining a universal franchise by placing a de facto tax on electoral registration.

This motion has been signed by a total of 36 MPs.