Electoral registers on FindMyPast

[LizzieL]

I was writing a Christmas card this morning, when I realised I didn't have the postcode for one of my friends. So knowing the house number, street, town and county I looked her up on FindMyPast electoral registers. She was on the open register from 2002 to 2009 then decided to come off the open register. FindMyPast has included an age guide of 56 to 60, but where do they get their information from and which year is it supposed to refer to? She would have been 56 in 2009, so the age range must only apply to the last date they have records for, or so I thought
But then I looked up my own entry. There is only one year (2002) for me as we moved house in 2003 and came off the open register immediately. It gives my age range as 58 - 62, whereas I was under 50 in 2002. OH is down as 65 +, which is correct now but more than 10 years too high in 2002.
Thinking it might be more accurate with more recent records, I checked a relative who is in the same house and on open register from 2006 to 2023, It has her age range as 50 - 54, but she is now 61.
So it's a mystery where this age guide comes from.

[Andy J2022]

There are plenty of databrokers who buy copies of the redacted electoral registers. And of course the credit reference agencies like Experian are able to get the full registers although I think they are legally prevented from sharing the data with third parties. There's a website called 192.com which has a fairly extensive database of electoral register entries, so I wouldn't be surprised if FindMyPast got their data from them. I have no idea how the age estimates are worked out.

[LizzieL]

There are plenty of databrokers who buy copies of the redacted electoral registers. And of course the credit reference agencies like Experian are able to get the full registers although I think they are legally prevented from sharing the data with third parties. There's a website called 192.com which has a fairly extensive database of electoral register entries, so I wouldn't be surprised if FindMyPast got their data from them. I have no idea how the age estimates are worked out.

I wasn't questioning where FindMyPast got the registers from, just how they worked out the age, and what date it referred to if someone has lived in the same house from 2002 to 2023 (21 years)

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/uk-electoral-registers-and-companies-house-directors


"These records are a mixture of the UK Electoral Registers and the Companies House Directors. The records are provided to Findmypast by 192.com. All limited companies in the UK are required to register at Companies House, which is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills."

[Chris Doran]

I've seen young voters coming of age during the year flagged on the printed registers with their birthday. (It might have been a separate list or Y flag in earlier years.) I don't know if they still do that, or whether it appears on the online registers on FindMyPast or 192 -- perhaps someone can look up someone they know. And maybe 192 know when you reach 76 and are no longer eligible for jury service. But how they would track people through changes of address, let alone name, I can't imagine.