Residents in Bournemouth will soon receive a letter with information about how to register themselves under the new individual electoral registration system.
Central government has introduced changes this summer to the way residents register to vote that will mean each person will be required to register to vote individually, rather than by household.
The Council’s electoral services team will initially be sending out enquiry forms to households where their records show they are unoccupied to establish who is eligible to vote. Once residents have completed these forms they will then be able to register online or they can wait to receive a further form through the post.
Matt Pitcher, Electoral Services manager, said:
“We would encourage everyone to make the most of their democratic right to vote by registering themselves under the new system. All the information and forms that residents need will be sent to them in the coming weeks so we would urge them to look out for these and respond quickly when they are required to.These changes ensure that individuals register securely and enable them to register in the simplest possible way.”
Individualelectoralregistration will give people more control and ownership over the process and increase the accuracy of the register – the new system will enable the Council to verify that everyone on the register is who they say they are. This will ensure that there is greater trust in the legitimacy and fairness of elections.
Under the new system, those already on the electoral register will be automatically added after their name and address is matched against existing government records. Those people who are not successfully matched may need to provide additional information to be registered, but thanks to the new online electoral registration system, this is now a quick and easy process that takes as little as three minutes.
More information can be found on our website athttps://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/CouncilDemocracy/ElectoralRegister/ElectionsVoting.aspx or alternatively residents can contact our Electoral Services Office helpline on 01202 451123 or via email at [email protected].
