Will you be able to vote? Residents urged to check they are registered

Residents in Bury will start to receive their annual canvass correspondence in July.

Residents are being urged to check their electoral registration details or risk losing their chance to vote on decisions that affect them.

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

Residents will receive a letter or email and, in the majority of cases, households will not need to respond if all the information is correct and complete – the letter or email will clearly state if this is the case.

Emails will only be sent to people who have registered to receive them and will always end in bury.gov.uk to reassure people that the link is genuine. The council will never ask for financial information.

If residents need to make any changes, they can do this easily online or by phone by following the instructions in the letter or email. People can also complete the paper form sent to them and return it to the council in the pre-paid envelope supplied to them.

Lynne Ridsdale, Bury’s Electoral Registration Officer and chief executive, said: “Please keep an eye out for the letter that will be delivered to every residential property in Bury, or an email if you have signed up to it, during the next few weeks and read it carefully.

“We carry out the annual canvass by law and it is an important part of making sure that as many people as possible have the right to vote. It is simpler this year for people whose circumstances have not changed. However, the register is often not accurate for people who have lived in a property for less than a year.

“If your circumstances have changed or if the information on the register is not accurate you may be denying yourself or other people living in your household the opportunity to vote. Please check the information carefully and follow the guidance.”

If you have not registered to vote you can do so by visiting www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Anyone who lives in your household, if they are over 18 and would be eligible to vote, can update the register for a household. Those aged 16 and 17 can register to vote and will become eligible on their 18^thbirthday.

Information on registering to vote is available on the Electoral Commission website.

ENDS

Press release issued: 13 July 2023.