At the end of July/early August, every household in the village will have received a Household Enquiry Form issued by East Cambridgeshire District Council. The information it requests is used to prepare the Electoral Register.
It is easy to return the information, either via email, text, Freephone or post. Once the form is returned, any new Electors will receive an ‘Invitation To Register’ to complete. At the end of August and mid-September reminders are posted to those households who have not responded. During October up to two follow up visits are made by an Electoral Register Canvasser to offer assistance with completion to those households with outstanding returns.
The form is self-explanatory, however some questions regularly occur, so to clarify:
Each year your Electoral Registration Officer must produce a list of names and addresses of people eligible to vote in local and Parliamentary elections. It is called the register of electors. It is the basis of our democracy, so its accuracy is very important.
The form is issued annually, and requires returning annually, regardless of whether there are any changes to the information it contains,regardless of whether you believe you have returned it previously. It is not just applicable when you move into your home, or change your name, or reach voting age.
The Electoral Register is not just about voting, whether you exercise your right to vote or not, makes no difference, the form still needs completing.
A big issue for people being on the Electoral role is this is the first check that any credit company will make, if you are not included on the register, your credit is usually refused, this includes car loans, mortgages and mobile phone contracts.
There are two versions of the Register; The Electoral Register, which is used for electoral purposes and the Open Register which can be used by businesses and charities. It is possible to opt out of the Open Register and your information will not be acquired by any mail marketing company by answering ‘No’ to this question on page 2 of the form.