Wokingham Borough Council is urging residents to check their electoral registration details or risk losing their chance to vote on decisions that affect them.
The Council is required by law to carry out the canvass every year and each household must ensure their details are correct. The process allows the Council to keep the electoral register up to date, identify who is at risk of losing their voice at elections and to encourage people to register before it is too late.
With elections taking place in May next year, this is an opportunity for residents to make sure they can take part. This year’s canvass will take place from September to November, in readiness for publication of the revised electoral register on 1 December 2022.
How the process will work
The Council will contact some residents by post, while others will be contacted by email. The letter will tell you whether you need to respond. Not all residents will be contacted when the first letters and emails are sent out at the beginning of September. The council will be sending out further correspondence and reminders in October.
Forms will be addressed to ‘The Occupier’ but anyone in the household can respond. Canvass correspondence sent via email will be sent from the Wokingham.borough.council.electoral.services@notifications.service.gov.uk email address and will contain the council’s official branding.
It is important to confirm the details of your household by 30 November in order to appear on the published register. Any new electors must register by 20 November.
During the canvass period, you can respond on the Household Response website, but you will need to use the security codes provided on the form to do so.
Make sure your don’t lose your say
Andrew Moulton, electoral registration officer at Wokingham Borough Council, said: “Keep an eye out for updates from the Council. The annual canvass is our way of making sure that the information on the electoral register for every address is accurate. To make sure you don’t lose your say at the next election, look out for instructions from us. If you don’t hear from the Council, you might not be on the register. If you want to register, the easiest way is online.”
People who have recently moved home in particular are being encouraged to check their details, as research from the Electoral Commission has found that recent home movers are less likely to be registered than those who live at the same address for a long time. In Great Britain, 92 per cent of those who have lived in their home for 16 years will be registered, compared with 36 per cent of people who have lived at an address for less than a year.
More information on registering to vote is available online from the Electoral Commission. Residents with questions about their registration status can contact the Council’s electoral services team at electoralservices@wokingham.gov.uk or call 0118 974 6000.
