Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council refused to exercise discretion and add him to the electoral register so he could vote in the upcoming elections. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council refused to accept responsibility for not processing his registration application and also refused to exercise discretion to accept a late registration.
2. Mr X says that as a result he was unable to vote in the upcoming elections.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says he completed the registration form to enable him to be added to the Register of Electors and posted it to the Council. The Council says it did not receive it. When Mr X discovered this, the statutory deadline to register to vote for the upcoming elections had passed. He asked the Council to exercise discretion and allow him to vote. The Council said it was unable to do so.
7. Mr X says he posted his form to the Council. The Council says it did not receive it. It is not possible to say, even on balance of probabilities what happened.
8. The deadline to register to vote before any election is statutory deadline. Therefore, it was not within the Council’s powers to accept Mr X’s late registration request. For these reasons, we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman