Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council rejecting Mr X’s application for the electoral register because Mr X could reasonably use his right to appeal to the county court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly rejected his application for the electoral register. He says the Council was inconsistent with verification documents requested and he suspects it was ‘data harvesting’.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
3. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and references to correspondence by the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the Council asked him for unnecessary documents when he applied to the electoral register and wrongly rejected his application. Refusal to include someone on the electoral roll may be appealed to the registration officer. If this is unsuccessful, there is a right to appeal to the county court. The court can decide whether the Council’s refusal was incorrect, including whether the Council’s decision was flawed by asking Mr X for incorrect documents. The law expressly provides this route for such matters, so we normally expect people to use it. The appeal process is relatively straightforward so it is reasonable to expect Mr X to use his appeal right.
7. Mr X says the Council was inconsistent with the verification documents requested and suspects it was data harvesting. Concerns about data protection would be more suitable for the Information Commissioner to decide.
8. It is not our role to decide whether Mr X should have been on the electoral register. So, we cannot comment on whether any fault by the Council prevented Mr X from voting in any election since his unsuccessful application. Even if it did, any injustice this would cause to Mr X would not be significant enough to warrant us investigating.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he could reasonably use his right to appeal to the county court against the Council’s decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman