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Perhaps you will demonstrate some additional 'investigative journalist' initiative, Mr Smith, by asking the Electoral Commission, in the light of Mr Lavery's recent revelatory letter to Deputy Prime Minister Clegg the contents of which are applicable to all Electoral Registration and Election Returning Officers across the UK, what the Electoral Commission is doing to ensure individual voters are only registered once across the UK and only cast one vote each in such a referendum (should such a referendum come to pass whether in May or, further to Monday's HoL successful amendment, later) and people who have registered to vote in more than one constituency are not counted more than once when constituency populations are counted and boundaries redrawn (should the sub-sixth-form Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill survive the pummelling it deserves). Perhaps the 'AV' part will be sensibly dumped or rescheduled to enable Electoral Law to be changed to fit its needs and perhaps the 'Constituencies' part will be wisely adjusted to allow the Boundary Commissioners to exercise greater powers of discretion so that they become enabled to respect and sustain the integrity of UK parliamentary representation of Cornwall & Scilly.

Let's see - how would this work out? The Electoral Commission writes to all 650 odd EROs and asks them to check out which of their voters have second homes and which ones are also registered elsewhere. Then, after the election, they have to check up on which ones have voted where. How would they do that exactly, given that we have 650 separate registers. I know - we could publish the actual votes of the voters! Shame about the secret ballot business........

No, BofanE, the passive reactive 'after the event' approach you describe wouldn't be the right one. Systems and methodology that ensure reliable, honest and verifiable 'one person-one vote' democracy from the off is what is required - that isn't as complicated to ensure as you attempt to suggest. All that is required is individual registration at each individual's constituency of primary residence and nowhere else.
With regard to post-election analysis and invalid votes detection, there is no need to 'publish the actual votes of the voters' - there is, as you fool well know, a difference between 'whether' a person voted and 'how' a person voted. 'Whether' a person voted (and in how many constituencies) is fully recorded and can be ascertained and is what is relevant. To validate an election it is merely necessary to guarantee the validity of votes and the entitlement of voters - not to identify 'how' votes were cast.A red herring there, BofanE.
Here are some germane extracts from Cornwall & Scilly Chief Election Returning and Electoral Registration Officer, Kevin Lavery, in his letter and briefing note to Deputy Prime Minister Clegg on November 23rd 2010 :
'As Electoral Registration Officer for Cornwall I want to bring an important and urgent issue to your attention which is of concern to all Cornwall Councillors and which has been brought to a head during this year鈥檚 Annual Canvass.'
'I have set out in detail on the attached briefing note the confusing law and guidance on the registration of voters who own a second home. This, of course, is a particularly acute problem in Cornwall that affects all electoral areas.'
'Summary of Law and Guidance
The legislation makes it clear that there are certain limitations on the ability of second home owners to vote in parliamentary and local government elections but that you can be registered to vote in two different areas if you can establish that you are resident in both. However, statute and case-law does little to bring clarity for EROs and their staff and apart from certain situations where it is clear that second home electoral registration is inappropriate, for the most part there is a lack of certainty and each situation needs to be assessed on its own facts.'
'A possible way forward
In 1998, during an inquiry conducted by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee into the state of the UK鈥檚 electoral law and administration, Professor Robert Blackburn, Solicitor and Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of London (King鈥檚 College) submitted evidence in respect of a number of issues including double or multiple voter registration. In that section, he stated the following:
鈥淭he principal solution required is that persons who live at two locations or who own properties in different constituencies should be required to nominate a 鈥渕ain residence鈥� for voting purposes. This process for nomination might be guided by a set of criteria, laid down either in the Representation of the People Act or some code of practice drawn up under its authority, and would prove no more administratively difficult to enforce than that which is required at present for capital gains tax purposes. Our electoral law would thereby be amended so that every elector is treated, for the purpose of the right to vote at parliamentary elections, as resident as his main residence.鈥�
There seems no reason why a similar principle could not be established for local government elections.'
Mr Lavery is correct - although he does fall into the trap (as many do) of referring to 'second' 'homes' when, in many cases of multiple property ownership in different constituencies, they are hardly the 'second' and they are hardly 'homes'. Such inadequate terms of reference understate the true potential scale of the problem.
What is certain is this - for any future 'AV Referendum' and any Constituency population counting and boundary drawing exercise and future elections at any level across the UK to be credible and unchallengeable the principle of genuine 'one person-one vote' democracy needs to be refreshed, consolidated and guaranteed.

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Any news of Mr Clegg's reply to Mr Lavery, Mr Smith?