29 August 2007
Don’t lose your right to vote
Electoral Registration forms have been dropping on more than 63,000 doormats in Wealden over the last few days. The electoral register lists all voters who live in the District. The form asks those eligible to register their details for the 2008 Register of Electors.
Electoral Registration Officer, Charles Lant, said “I urge the residents of Wealden to respond to the form as soon as possible as it does save the council, and therefore you the taxpayer, time and money. The most important issue is that people don’t lose their right to vote in any forthcoming elections.”
Your name will need to be on the register if you want to vote at any elections held in your area next year. The register is also used by credit reference agencies. If householders do not appear on an electoral register, credit companies may refuse credit for anything from a mobile phone to a mortgage.
If there have not been any changes to the names or details given on the form, and will not be by 15 October, then you can use one of the following options:
a) you can telephone (using a touchtone phone) the FREEPHONE number 0800 197 5833 which is given on your form; or
b) you can visit www.registerbyinternet.com/wealden and follow the simple instructions.
Both of these options are permanently available up to the canvass deadline. To use them, you will need the details of the household and the special two-part security code printed on the Electoral Registration form that we have posted. The FREEPHONE and internet registration systems both accommodate the ‘opt-out’ rules allowing users to add or remove their names from the edited version of the register used by mailing companies.
Alternatively, you can sign and return the form by post. If there are changes to be made to the details on the form, then you will need to reply by post, amending the form, signing it and returning it in the pre-paid envelope.
Last year, over 25,000 Wealden households registered by phone or internet (nearly 40%), while 37,000 households returned the form by post (over 58%).
Even if an elector decides not to vote, the information must still be supplied by law. If they refuse to give the information, they can be taken to Court – the maximum fine being £1,000.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Electoral Services at Wealden District Council, Pine Grove, Crowborough, Tel. 01892 602417.
