Electoral Registration

[Bert]

The question "Do I have to fill in the Electoral Registration form?" has been asked before, but the answers were not specific. I have received the Electoral Registration form from my local council. On the envelope is said failure to provide the information requested under the Representaion of the People Act 1983 could result in prosecution. On the form itself, it says, "You are required by law to give the information requested in this form."
I have searched through the Act online, looking for 'failure', 'penalty', etc and I have been unable to find a section that states it is an offence not to give the information. I suspect it may be an offence under another piece of legislation.
Does anyone know what Act and which section of that Act makes it an offence to fail to give the information?

[Baldric]

Found this, any help?

http://www.getoutandvote.info/penalty-registering-vote-introduced/

[Mamyalynne]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/341/regulation/23/made

[Mamyalynne]

Discussed here...



http://gizmonaut.net/blog/uk/2009/09/voting_optional_registration_compulsory.html

[Buenchico]

A relevant link:
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/pair-fined-refusing-sign-up-4200256
and another one:
http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/news/2013/sep/buckingham-man-fined-refusing-sign-electoral-register/

[Bert]

Baldric - no, that's no help - though I appreciate the effort. What you refer to only comes into effect in 2015.
Buenchico - thanks, but neither item said what legislation the prosecutions were taken under.
Mamyalynne - brilliant! Thanks! How did you find it? Your second answer tells how difficult it was for the writer to find the relevant section - 78 hits on the Statute Law database to look through.

[Buenchico]

I didn't bother mentioning the legislation because Mamya had got there first.

Here's a big hint though: If you're seeking the relevant legislation for any particular purpose, always include the word 'Act' in your Google search. For example, using the search string 'act register vote' brings up this page as the very first link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_registration_in_the_United_Kingdom
It took me less than 10 seconds to find it!

[Bert]

I searched for 'act register vote' and got nothing like the result you got, Buenchico. My first hit was the National Voter Registration Act 1993 (American). I tried restricting results to UK sites and got the MOBO Awards 2012! The link you provided was not in the first 20 hits. Anyway, I would not have thought of putting 'vote' in the string, as I am not concerned with voting.

[Peter Pedant]

if you google
uk law register to vote (actually it autofills)

you get quite a lot

It is obvious you/one are not free to fail to register