19 December 2007 - The number of people opted-out of being on the edited electoral register has decreased by nearly three per cent.
Although official statistics will not be published until 28 February 2007, data from Experian, a credit agency, suggests that the overall number of people on the electoral register has increased from 45.46 to 45.99 million, an increase of one per cent compared with last year.
At the same time, the number of people on the edited electoral register has decreased by 2.94 per cent to 39.75 per cent of all electors.
The increase in the number of electors is likely to be the result of the introduction of the Electoral Administration Act in June 2006 and efforts by local councils to get more people to register to vote. The decrease in the number of people on the edited register can be attributed to a greater awareness of data protection issues. The edited register can be bought by any person or organisation and can be used for any purpose. The register is often used for the creation of direct mailing lists.