Respond to council... or risk losing your vote

COTSWOLD district residents are being urged to check their electoral registration details or risk losing their chance to vote.

It comes with local elections due to take place next May.

Robert Weaver, electoral registration officer at Cotswold District Council, told residents: “Keep an eye out for communications from us in the coming weeks which will contain information on what you need to do to make sure your household is fully registered for the next election.

“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, please make sure you respond.

“We would also ask that you respond to the emails we are sending as soon as you are able so that we don’t need to send any follow-ups and can save both time and paper.

“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 at gov.uk/ register-to-vote.”

The annual canvass allows the council to keep the electoral register up to date, identify who risks losing their voice at elections and encourage them to register before it is too late.

Recent home-movers in particular are urged to check their details after Electoral Commission research found that such people were less likely to be registered than those who had lived at the same address for a long time.

In Britain, 92% of people who have lived in their home for 16 years will be registered, compared with 36% of people who have lived at an address for less than a year.

Residents can find out more about elections at cotswold.gov.uk/elections. Anyone with questions about their registration status can contact the council’s electoral services team at Elections@cotswold.gov.uk or by calling 01285 623002.