London,
14
October
2015
|
11:20
Europe/London

Make sure you are registered to vote in 2016

Each year we carry out an annual canvass or audit of all of the households in borough in order to update the electoral register. We began this year’s annual canvass in July and each property will have received a Household Enquiry Form pre-printed with the names of those who are currently registered to vote. Those properties that have no registered voters will have received a blank form.

The aim of the form is to ensure that the electoral register is up to date and to identify any residents who are not registered.

What you need to do

Anyone that wants to vote must be registered. To make sure you are able to have your say at the elections next year, simply check the form when it arrives, add any names that are missing and delete those of people who no longer live at your address. You should then return it as promptly as possible. You can also respond online or via text message.

What happens next

The names of people on the returned form who are not registered to vote will be sent information explaining how to do this. They can also just go online to apply to register at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

It’s particularly important that anyone who has moved address recently looks out for the form and checks whether they are registered.

Research by the Electoral Commission indicates that recent home movers are far less likely to be registered than those that have lived at the same address for a long time.

The research shows that 94% of people who have been at their property for more than sixteen years will be registered compared to 40% of people who have lived at an address for less than one year. The same research indicates that whilst almost 95% of outright home owners are registered, this is the case for only 63% of private renters.

If you have questions about registering to vote you can contact the elections team at [email protected] or by phone on 0207 974 6000.