Annual Canvassing

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the Electoral Register?
• Why should I register?
• Am I automatically registered if I pay Council Tax?
• Will my details appear on the electoral register? Will they be used for anything else or given to other organisations?
• Can anyone see my name on the electoral register?
• Why can't I get credit?
• Can I search the electoral register online?
• Who can register to vote?
• Can I register once or do I have to register every year?
• What do I do with this form?
• Who should I include on the form?
• The form lists the previous occupiers, what do I do?
• The occupier can't sign the form?
• What if I will not be living at this address in October?
• My son/daughter is going to university, should they be registered from my address?
• I will be moving house shortly should I complete the form?
• My son/daughter is on the Register, but they are not 18 years old
• Why do I need to include 16/17 year olds on the form, when they are not entitled to vote until they are 18 years old?
• What is the Edited Register?
• Who can apply for a postal vote?
• How secure is a postal vote?
• I have a tick in the postal column, how do I change it?
• Who can apply for a proxy vote?
• How do I get a proxy vote?
• My mother/father is no longer living at the address and has since gone into a nursing home. Where would they register, would it be from the family address or from the home?
• I cannot remember whether I have sent back my annual canvass form. How do I find out if I have sent it back to the Council?
• I have ripped up my form by mistake, what can I do?
• What happens if I have not received a canvass form because my address is not on the Council's database?
• I have not been able to get through to the freephone number, what can I do?
• I have registered by the Freephone Service to confirm the details on the canvass form are correct. However, I have forgotten to add my son's/daughter's name to the form what should I do?
• My husband/wife is not British, and does not hold a British passport, is he/she entitled to vote?
• Can I vote whilst abroad?
• I am in the Armed Forces (Army, Navy or RAF) posted abroad. How do I register to vote?
• I am in the Armed Forces living in the UK . How do I register to vote?
• What happens if my information changes after register printed on the 1st December?

What is the electoral register?

The electoral register is a list of the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote. There are two versions of the electoral register - the full register and the edited register. The full register is used for elections, preventing and detecting crime and checking applications for credit. The edited register is available for general sale and can be used for commercial activities such as marketing. Your details will appear on the full register but you can choose whether or not your details appear on the edited register.

Why Should I register?

You must register. You need to be on the electoral register to vote in all UK elections and referendums. You are not automatically registered even if you pay council tax. Failing to register may also affect your ability to get credit and banks, building societies, mobile phones and catalogue companies usually check the register before giving credit. This is because the electoral register is often used for credit referencing purposes to counteract fraud. It is a criminal offence for a person to fail to register or to give false information and the Tameside Magistrates' may impose a fine up to £1,000. This year the law has been changed which requires the Council to make personal visits to all those households who do not respond to the canvass. Help completing the form can be obtained from any Customer First Centre.

Am I automatically registered if I pay Council Tax?

The Council Tax Register and the Electoral Register are two separate registers and are completely different. The Council Tax Register may show the name of the owner of a property and not necessarily the residents of the property. For this and other legal reasons, the Electoral Registration Officer is not permitted to take names from the Council Tax Register and put them on the Electoral Register and vice versa.

Will my details appear on the electoral register? Will they be used for anything else or given to other organisations?

There are two versions of the electoral register - the full version and the edited version. The full register is used only for elections, preventing and detecting crime and checking applications for credit. The edited register is available for general sale and can be used for commercial activities such as marketing. Your name and address will appear on the full register but you can choose on your registration form whether to appear on the edited register.

Can anyone see my name on the electoral register?

New laws have been brought in to restrict the ways in which the electoral register can be used. Anyone can inspect a copy of the full register at Tameside Council offices under supervision, but they would have to know your address to be able to find your name, because the register is compiled in address order. It would be very difficult for anyone to find your address by just knowing your name.

Why can't I get credit?

There may be a number of reasons for this, most of which have nothing to do with the register of electors. However if you have been told by a bank or credit reference agency that you have been denied credit because your name does not appear on the register of electors, you will need to contact the Council's Elections Office. This is because the electoral register is often used for credit referencing purposes to counteract fraud. If your name appears on the register of electors we can supply you with a letter confirming your registration at a cost of £10. This is the statutory fee set out under the Data Protection Act 1998. Sometimes the records maintained by credit reference agencies are incorrect - they should be able to supply you with a copy of your record so that you can check the details. If you have already provided confirmation that you are registered to your bank or credit reference agency, then any further problems will have to be taken up with them, not with the Council's Elections Office.

If you are not registered to vote, you can download and complete an electoral registration form 348.36 KB from this website. You will have been removed from the register if you did not respond to the annual canvass carried out in the Autumn every year.

Can I search the electoral register online?

Electoral registration is performed locally by individual Councils for each area and there is currently no official centralised electoral register that can be searched online. However, there are two versions of the electoral register - the full version and the edited version. The full register is used only for elections, preventing and detecting crime and checking applications for credit. The edited register is available for general sale and can be used for commercial activities such as marketing. It is possible to search the edited register using online commercial organisations, but it is not possible to search the full register in this way, as the full registers are only available to view in hard copy at the Council's Election Office.

Who can register to vote?

You can register to vote if you are:

• 16 or over (but you can not vote until you are 18)
• British, Irish Republic or Commonwealth citizen
• citizen of a European Union country living in the UK
• citizen of the Channel Islands or Isle of Man living in the UK

Can I register once or do I have to register every year?

You should register between September and November every year when the Council delivers a registration form to your home, which is known as the 'annual canvass'. Otherwise if you do not return your form or do not register by freephone or the online service, all pre-printed names will appear on the edited register, which can be sold to anybody and used for any purpose or your name may be deleted.

What do I do with this form?

The form you have been sent is called an "Annual Canvass form" or "Registration form" and the information on it is used to update the Electoral Register. The Register is canvassed yearly to obtain up to date information in order to compile the new Register of Electors for the 1st December each year.

If the details shown on the form are correct and there is no one else living at the property who will be aged 18 before 1st December 2007, then you do not have to return the form you can respond by:

• ringing the free-phone number (0800 197 6183) 24 hours/7 days a week
• registering via the Internet

You can also use either of these methods if you want to:

• apply for a postal vote or stop getting a postal vote
• If you wish to remove your name from the edited register - this is the one that anyone can buy

If the details are not correct, you must return the form and cross out the names of anyone no longer living at your property, and add the names of anyone living there who is over the age of 18 or will be before 1st December, 2006.

Who should I include on the form?

You should name the following people on the form:

• Anyone who will be working away from home for less than six months.
• Anyone who normally lives with you but is temporarily away. For example, because they are on holiday, is in student accommodation at college or university, or in hospital. This includes patients with mental illness who are voluntarily in hospital for a short stay.
• Long term residents, guests or lodgers.

You should not name the following people on the form:

• Foreign nationals - except for citizens of the Commonwealth (including Cyprus and Malta), the Republic of Ireland and any other European Union country.
• People under 16.
• Members of HM forces who have made a Service Declaration. Crown servants and British Council staff who are working abroad.
• Wives or husbands of Crown servants, and British Council staff who are living abroad with their partners.
• Long-stay voluntary patients in psychiatric hospitals.
• Convicted prisoners who are in prison.

The following category of voters must not be included on your form:

• people living overseas
• homeless persons
• remand prisoners
• mental health patients in care

Please contact the Elections Office for more details on how they should register or go to www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

The form lists the previous occupiers, what do I do?

Put a line through their name, and add the details of all qualifying residents at the property, then sign and date the form, and return as soon as possible.

The occupier can't sign the form?

They can get a member of their family/a neighbour/a carer to help them complete the form. However, if someone else is signing the form, they should indicate on the form, who they are, e.g. neighbour.

What if I will not be living at this address in October?

Then cross out your name on the form and ensure you are registered from your new address when you move.

My son/daughter is going to university, should they be registered from my address?

Students can remain registered at their home address and can also register at their university address. Although they are registered to vote from two addresses they should only vote from one of their addresses.

I will be moving house shortly, should I complete the form?

If you are not sure when you will be moving, either before or after the 15th October, then you should complete the registration form for your current address. When you move to your new address, please contact the elections office and request a registration form to register from your new address or complete the form 348.36 KB .

My son/daughter is on the Register, but they are not 18 years old?

If they will not be aged 18 before 1st December 2007, then they need to have their names crossed off the form and the form sent back to the Elections Office in the prepaid envelope provided.

Why do I need to include 16/17 year olds on the form, when they are not entitled to vote until they are 18 years old?

A young person who is 16/17 is added to the Electoral Register with their date of birth, if they will be 18 within the life of the Electoral Register. If an Election is called and the person is not 18 at that time, then they will not qualify to vote. However, if an election is called and that elector is 18, as indicated by their date of birth, they will be entitled to vote.

What is the Edited Register?

You have some choice about who can buy details of your name and address. There are two versions of the register: the edited version and the full version. When you fill in your voter registration form, you will be able to choose whether you want your details included in the edited register.

The full register lists everyone who is entitled to vote including those who have chosen not to appear on the edited register and is not for sale for commercial purposes. Only certain people and organisations can have copies of the full register, and they can only use it for electoral purposes, the prevention and detection of crime and checking your identity when you have applied for credit. It is a criminal offence for them to pass this information on to anyone else or to use it for any other purpose.

The edited register can be sold to anybody and used for any purpose. You can choose not to appear on this register by ticking the relevant box on the voter registration form. The cost of the register for a paper copy is £10 plus £5 per 1,000 names. The cost in data format is £20 plus £1.50 per 1,000 names. The total cost payable will depend on how many names appear on the register for the area a person is purchasing. This can range from the largest area being the whole of Tameside to the smallest being a polling district within Tameside. The Council does not have a say in how much the register costs to purchase. The cost is set out in the "Representation of the People" Acts and is the same across the United Kingdom.

If you do not return your form or do not register by freephone or the online service, all pre-printed names will appear on the edited register, which can be sold to anybody and used for any purpose or your name may be deleted.

Who can apply for a postal vote?

Anyone who is registered to vote.

How secure is a postal vote?

It is an offence to complete a postal vote that is not your own, and to influence how others complete their postal vote. If you have any allegations of fraud, they should be referred to the police.

I have a tick in the postal column, how do I change it?

If the details shown on the form are correct and there is no one else living at the property who will be aged 18 before 1st December 2007, then you do not have to return the form you can respond by:

• ringing the free-phone number (0800 197 6183) 24 hours/7 days a week
• registering via the Internet

You can also use either of these methods if you want to:

• apply for a postal vote or stop getting a postal vote
• If you wish to remove your name from the edited register - this is the one that anyone can buy

Otherwise if you need to return the form put a cross through the tick, and write on the form that the postal vote is no longer required.

Who can apply for a proxy vote?

You can only apply for a long-term proxy vote (this is someone who you nominate who will go to the polling station to vote on your behalf) if you have a specific reason such as a disability or being overseas. Follow this link to download an application form to vote by proxy 348.36 KB

To vote by proxy for just one election, you must have a reason, for example you will be on holiday, although you can get a postal vote instead. However, in England and Wales, if you are suddenly incapacitated or taken ill, you can apply to vote by proxy for medical reasons up until 5pm on polling day. Follow this link to download an application form to vote by emergency proxy 348.36 KB

How do I get a proxy vote?

In England and Wales, if you are suddenly incapacitated or taken ill, you can apply to vote by proxy for medical reasons up until 5pm on polling day. Follow this link to download an application form to vote by emergency proxy 348.36 KB

My mother/father is no longer living at the address and has since gone into a residential/nursing home. Where would she/he register, would it be from the family address or from the home?

Your parent's name should be removed from the canvass form and they should be registered at the nursing home. Speak with the residential /nursing home Manager/Officer in Charge to ensure they have added your parent's name to the canvass form they have received. If this is not the case then you should contact the Elections Office who will arrange to send out an Electoral Registration form to add your parent's name to the Electoral Register from the residential /nursing home.

I cannot remember whether I have sent back my annual canvass form. How do I find out if I have sent it back to the Council?

You will need to check with the Elections Office who will confirm whether they have received your canvass form.

I have ripped up my form by mistake, what can I do?

The forms are sent out by printers, in September and November. Any forms not returned or confirmed via the telephone/internet by the end of September will be sent a reminder form in November.

What happens if I have not received a canvass form because my address is not on the Council's database?

You need to contact the Elections Office so they can do a check against the current database, which will include any new properties built/under construction or you can download and complete an electoral registration form 348.36 KB from this website.

I have not been able to get through to the freephone number, what can I do?

Try again at a different time. It may be that the lines are particularly busy at this time. The number operates 24 hours a day/7 days a week. You can also respond by:

• registering via the Internet
• or by returning the Registration Form using the prepaid envelope and putting in a Royal Mail post box or by dropping off at any Council Offices/Library etc.

I have registered by the Freephone Service to confirm the details on the canvass form are correct. However, I have forgotten to add my son's/daughter's name to the form what should I do?

You can still amend the form and send it in to Elections Office, as any amendments override any 'no changes' received via telephone response. If you have destroyed the form then Elections can send you an electoral registration form to complete to add the names of any new electors eligible to be on the Electoral Register. Alternatively, you could pick up a rolling registration form from Customer First (or print off a rolling registration form ).

My husband/wife is not British, and does not hold a British passport, are they entitled to vote?

If the person is not a British, Commonwealth or Irish citizen and they are not a European Union Citizen, then they will not qualify to vote. If the person is a European Union Citizen, they should indicate on the form, their nationality, e.g. French.

Can I vote whilst abroad?

If you are a British citizen and you are thinking of living or working abroad, you may still be able to vote from your last registered address here. Your right to vote in this country's elections can apply for up to 15 years. Contact the Election Office or www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

I am in the Armed Forces (Army, Navy or RAF) posted abroad. How do I register to vote?

Service personnel and their husbands, wives, or civil partners posted abroad can register to vote by making an annual service declaration. You can download the service declaration form from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk . You can register at the address where you would be living if you were not in the services or for an address where you have lived in the past. You need to send your service declaration to the local electoral registration office for the address where you wish to be registered.

I am in the Armed Forces living in the UK. How do I register to vote?

Service personnel and their husbands, wives or civil partners have the option of making a service declaration (you can download the service declaration form from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk ) or can choose to register to vote in the traditional way.

What happens if my information changes after register printed on the 1st December?

The revised register will be published on the 1st December 2006. Amendments (additions/deletions) can then be made on a monthly basis on application to the Council's Elections Office.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Elections Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne Lancs OL6 6DL View local map
0161 342 3036
0161 342 2187