Residents urged to register to vote as council's electoral canvass gets underway

The Lancaster district’s annual electoral canvass begins this week and residents are being urged not to lose their right to vote.

Each year Lancaster City Council is required by law to canvass every household in the district and produce a Register of Electors.

Approximately 65,000 Household Enquiry Forms will be sent out this week to all households in the district.

If there have been no changes in your household since the last canvass you can confirm your details in just a few minutes using the internet.  

Residents will still be able to ‘opt-out’ and add or remove their names from the edited version of the register used by mailing companies, and to request postal vote applications, if they use the online system.

Anyone who does not return their form will receive a personal visit from one of the council’s team of canvassers later this summer, so save time and confirm your details now.

Lisa Vines, Lancaster City Council’s elections' manager, said: "It is vitally important that residents ensure they are registered to vote so they don’t lose the opportunity to make their voice heard at election time. We’ve made it as easy as possible for people to register their details and it should only take a few minutes. If they don’t then we have to conduct a personal visit, so I’d urge everyone to take action as soon as the canvass form drops through the letterbox."

If any new people have been added to a household enquiry form, they must then apply to register to vote themselves. They can now go online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or they will be sent an invitation to register form through the post to be completed and returned.  

Online applications take a couple of minutes to do, but in both cases the applicant will need their National Insurance number in order to fully complete the application.

Last updated: 09 July 2019