No fixed abode - registering to vote - article

[DeanS]

An article I found.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/floating-voters-how-living-on-a-houseboat-meant-i-didnt-officially-exist-10142337.html

[zigspider]

Interesting comments !

[Wanted]

Whilst normally in support of making things easy for livaboards, and I except that it's hard to know what to search for sometimes, but this particular argument I have little truck with. Why? Because it's not true!

 

Part F section 5 ( page 2) of the special category document 2010 doesn't say you have to register as homeless or indeed on remand or under any mental health act. It just says that you apply using the same method to declare your local connection. It even states boat dwelling as a reason.

 

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/electoral_commission_pdf_file/0011/43958/Part-F-Special-category-electors-March-2010.pdf

 

It's a faff and not very well publicised but I don't see how it's either right or fair to bleat on about being made to use the same section as others when it's just a simple mechanism to ensure you can vote.

[blackrose]

So she moved onto a boat without realising it didn't have a residential address, and she thinks that anyone living on a boat without a residential mooring is a continuous cruiser?

 

That's as far into her article as I got I'm afraid... Some people really need to get their facts right before they write newspaper articles.

 

Also, as a liveaboard since 1998, I can't help thinking that if one adopts an alternative lifestyle where residential status is in a bit of an grey area, then one shouldn't really be surprised (or indignant) when some things prove a bit more difficult than they are for "regular" members of society. It goes with the territory.

Edited April 6, 2015 by blackrose

[cotswoldsman]

So she moved onto a boat without realising it didn't have a residential address, and she thinks that anyone living on a boat without a residential mooring is a continuous cruiser?

 

That's as far into her article as I got I'm afraid... Some people really need to get their facts right before they write newspaper articles.

 

Also, as a liveaboard since 1998, I can't help thinking that if one adopts an alternative lifestyle where residential status is in a bit of an grey area, then one shouldn't really be surprised (or indignant) when some things prove a bit more difficult than they are for "regular" members of society. It goes with the territory.

I agree and as a liveaboard for only 9 years I have learnt that with a bit of thought it can all be sorted.

[David Schweizer]

Whilst normally in support of making things easy for livaboards, and I except that it's hard to know what to search for sometimes, but this particular argument I have little truck with. Why? Because it's not true!

 

Part F section 5 ( page 2) of the special category document 2010 doesn't say you have to register as homeless or indeed on remand or under any mental health act. It just says that you apply using the same method to declare your local connection. It even states boat dwelling as a reason.

 

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/electoral_commission_pdf_file/0011/43958/Part-F-Special-category-electors-March-2010.pdf

 

It's a faff and not very well publicised but I don't see how it's either right or fair to bleat on about being made to use the same section as others when it's just a simple mechanism to ensure you can vote.

 

That information is well out of date. The introduction on the latest form still includes the term "homeless" , however, the form which you are required to complete and submit to the local Authority only requires you to declare yourself as having no fixed address :- Electoral Registration Generic NFA

Edited April 6, 2015 by David Schweizer

[Alan de Enfield]

She seems a well educated, articulate person and yet cannot comprehend that if the mooring does not exist (as a residential mooring) then the council will obviously have no record of it.

 

"......... The boat is now at a recognised mooring that my husband and I rent from the landowner. The problem is, this patch that we have come to call home is not an official residential mooring – in other words, in the eyes of the local authority, it does not exist as an address where people live"

 

Of course it doesn't !!!!!!

[blackrose]

She seems a well educated, articulate person and yet cannot comprehend that if the mooring does not exist (as a residential mooring) then the council will obviously have no record of it.

 

"......... The boat is now at a recognised mooring that my husband and I rent from the landowner. The problem is, this patch that we have come to call home is not an official residential mooring – in other words, in the eyes of the local authority, it does not exist as an address where people live"

 

Of course it doesn't !!!!!!

 

Yes, she's obviously a bit out of touch with reality.

[Hawthorn]

Yes, she's obviously a bit out of touch with reality.

I apologise in advance for this ...

 

Perhaps she's a floating voter.

[Wanted]

 

That information is well out of date. The introduction on the latest form still includes the term "homeless" , however, the form which you are required to complete and submit to the local Authority only requires you to declare yourself as having no fixed address :- Electoral Registration Generic NFA

I stand corrected, thanks for the info.

 

Rob

[Alan de Enfield]

I apologise in advance for this ...

 

Perhaps she's a floating voter.

 

Just goes to show you read the article and it set off your subconscious

 

Article Title :

 

Floating voters: How living on a houseboat meant I didn't officially 'exist'