Cabinet Office Register to Vote Service surpasses 30 million applications

An incredible 30 million applications to register to vote have been made since Kainos started work with the Cabinet Office to transform the old paper-based system into an exemplar of citizen focused digital public services.

Five years ago, Kainos joined up with the Government to help implement the biggest change to the electoral system in nearly a century. In June 2014 a new website was launched that offered an online application service for the first time. Since developing the solution, Kainos has continued to support the live digital service, putting citizens at the heart of the electoral registration system.

The Register to Vote service was designed with the goal of making it easier for electors to join the electoral register and keep their details accurate and up-to-date. Since its launch as part of the switch to Individual Electoral Registration, 30 million applications to register have been verified by the digital service with 75% of these completed online. That's a fantastic achievement and clear testament to the value that the service provides for the public.

Delving into the data for all the 30 million registrations shows a huge 55% of the applications have come from those under 35. Whilst younger people may be more likely to be new to the register, change address, or change name, the data is clear that this generation has embraced the digital service. This age group uses the online service to apply to register to the near exclusion of all other channels, taking advantage of the speed and accessibility that it offers.

The General Elections of 2015 and 2017 along with the 2016 EU Referendum were big draws to the service, driving ever-increasing numbers of applications. On the day of the registration deadline for the 2017 General Election a record 622,000 applications were made via the register to vote website, contributing to the highest ever register of 46.9 million electors. Even now, with no major elections imminent, the service receives a steady 30 thousand applications every day and maintains a healthy 92% user satisfaction score.

The service is regularly updated with frequent releases of new features to ensure the registration journey is accurate and as user friendly as possible to complete. Having such a dynamic service maintained through using agile principles keeps it fresh and always with the focus on the end users. Keeping this service at the forefront of technology and user demands is a key reason why Register to Vote has been such a success and we here at Kainos look forward to continuing our work with Cabinet Office on delivering this outstanding service.