Nearly 14,000 households in Erewash have still not registered their vote and will now be visited in person after they failed to respond to two requests for details for the electoral register.
Erewash Borough Council’s team of canvassers are out and about and have until the end of this month to visit the properties in a bid to ensure all those who are eligible to vote are on the register.
The council – along with local authorities across the country – is required to carry out the annual canvass of electors every year to confirm that the details on the register are correct or to add new voters.
Councillor Carol Hart, Erewash Borough Council’s Lead Member for Community Engagement, says:
“It is vitally important that everyone has a right to vote and to ensure this we must keep the voting register up to date – and this is done on an annual basis. We find people have moved house, children have come of age and can now go on the register and new people have moved into the borough. This is why it is carried out every year.
“We would urge residents to help our canvassers if they visit. It is also incredibly easy to register online and residents will have received letters giving them clear instructions on what to do.”
Under a new system introduced last year called Individual Electoral Registration (IER), everyone old enough to vote has to take the responsibility to make sure they are on the voting register. This replaced the previous system where one person in the household could register everyone living at the property.
Anyone needing help to register can contact the council’s elections team on 0115 907 1190 or email electreg@erewash.gov.uk
