Privacy notice - postal and proxy applications (absent voting)

Data Controllers

The Electoral Registration Officer and the Returning Officer, Rushmoor Borough Council, are both data controllers for the personal information you provide. You can contact the Council by email at elections@rushmoor.gov.uk or by writing to us at Elections Office, Democracy and Community, Rushmoor Borough Council, Farnborough Road, Farnborough, Hampshire.  GU14 7JU

You can contact our Data Protection Officer by email at data.protection@rushmoor.gov.uk or by writing to Legal Services, Rushmoor Borough Council, Council Offices, Farnborough Road, Farnborough, GU14 7JU.

The Data Controllers liaise with the Data Protection Officer over good practice in relation to data protection.  If you have any concerns or questions about how the Data Controllers look after your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Officer.

Processing activity

The Data Controllers have a statutory duty to process personal information for the purpose of administering an election and to comply with the Electoral and Administration Act 2013 and the Representation of the People Regulations 2001.  We will process your application for a postal vote or appointment of a proxy to allow you to vote in elections by your chosen method.  We keep a record of your application form.  This information is kept on a computer, in the form of a digital/scanned image and we retain a paper copy. 

These records may include:

• Your name, address, date of birth, national insurance number and details of how long you wish to have a postal vote /  proxy vote
• Address to which you would like your postal vote sent (if different from your registered electoral address)
• Name and address of your appointed proxy voter and the reasons for appointing a proxy
• Emails and telephone numbers
• Digital / scanned application forms including a sample of your signature kept electronically

To verify your identity, the data you provide will be processed by the Electoral Registration Digital Service (IERDS) managed by the Cabinet Office.  As part of this process, your data will be shared with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Cabinet Office's suppliers who are data processors for IERDS.  For more information on this, please read the Cabinet Office's privacy policy.

To verify your identity, the data you provide will be processed by the Returning Officer at election time to compare with your postal vote statement and to check that your proxy is registered on the electoral register and able to vote on your behalf.

If we need to process your information for a purpose other than that for which the personal information was collected, we will provide you with information on that other purpose before doing so.

Who will your information be shared with?

The information you provide is held in the electoral registers, which are managed by the Elections Office who, using the information received, keep your postal / proxy vote applications up to date and use the information to verify your identity and to help manage the postal / proxy vote process.

The absent voters list can be supplied only to the following people and organisations:

• Candidates and agents standing for an election
• Political parties
• As part of the election process to issue you a postal pack at election time
• By polling staff at polling stations to verify your voting method and to have details of your proxy voter at the polling station to vote on your behalf

Lawful basis

The Data Controllers' lawful basis for processing your personal information is to comply with the Data Controllers' legal obligations under the:

• Local Government Act 1972
• Representation of the People Acts 1983, 1985 and 2000
• Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
• Local Government Act 2000
• Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001
• Representation of the People (Combination of Polls)(England and Wales) Regulations 2004
• Local Elections (Principal Areas)(England and Wales) Rules 2006
• Electoral Administration Act 2006
• Local Elections (Parishes and Communities)(England and Wales) Rules 2006
• Political Parties and Elections Act 2009
• Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
• Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) Regulations 2012
• Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums)(England) Regulations 2012
• Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
• For the performance of a public interest task which has a clear basis in law (see above) or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Data Controllers i.e. administering the election in the public interest, as provided for in electoral law

Why we need this information

We require this information in order to process your application for a postal vote or appointment of a proxy to allow you to vote in elections by your chosen method.  If you do not provide this information, your application will not be processed and you will have to attend the polling station in person to vote instead.

Retention period

Your personal information will be kept for the minimum period necessary.  The information outlined in this Privacy Notice will be kept in accordance with the retention period(s) referred to in our retention guidelines unless exceptional circumstances require longer retention e.g. pending legal action.  All information will be held securely and disposed of confidentially.

Your rights

The General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018 give you rights concerning our use of your personal information.

See the list below.  Not all rights apply in every case - it will depend on the legal basis for collecting your information and how we use it.

• The right to be informed
• The right of access
• The right to rectification
• Rights relating to automated decision-making, including profiling
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to object
• The right to be forgotten

The right to object to processing cannot however be applied to information where the collection of or the nature of the processing specified in electoral law. 

The right to be forgotten does not apply when processing is required for the performance of a public task (such as the maintaining of the electoral registers) or where it is necessary for archival purposes in the public interest

Further details on these can be found on our website www.rushmoor.gov.uk/dataprotection

You can also complain to the Information Commission: https://ico.org.uk, helpline 0303 123 1113

NOTE: Everyone working for Electoral Services has a legal duty to keep and process information about you in accordance with the law.

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice will be regularly reviewed and updates placed on the website.