The Annual Canvass
The Annual Canvass
How to register to vote including how to register using the freephone or online service
Register of Electors 2008 - 2007 Annual Canvass
Every British, Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland citizen living in Great Britain is eligible to vote in this country's elections. All other European Union citizens are eligible to vote in European Parliamentary elections and local elections held here.
By law, you must register every year, even if you do not intend to vote. 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. The Council is required by law 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.
A revised register will be published on 1st December 2007 and voter registration forms are at the moment being delivered to every property in the Borough.
Electoral Register - Annual Registration
Registration forms are delivered to every household. If the details on the form being delivered to your property are correct and if the only changes to the pre-printed details relate to the edited register (this is the freely available version of the register that anyone can buy) or postal votes you can register using either of the following (24 Hours/7days a week) options:
- Register by Freephone: 0800 197 6183 - You will need a touch tone phone with a (star) * button
- Register by Internet: Visit: www.registerbyinternet.com/tameside
You will need to have Part One and Part Two of your security code ready - you will find these printed on the registration form which will be delivered to your home.
Or Register by Post
Make the necessary amendments to your form then sign and return it in the envelope provided.
You must register every year. You are not automatically registered, even if you are paying council tax.
Changes and alterations
For any households where there are changes and alterations you cannot register via online or freephone (unless the change relates only to the edited register or postal votes) so please post or fax your amended form, the fax number is 0161 342 2187.
The two versions of the 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 new online service, all pre-printed names will appear on the edited register, which can be sold to anybody and used for any purpose.
Assistance
If you need assistance in completing the form or registering via the freephone or online service please contact us by:
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 Elections Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne Lancs OL6 6DL View local map 
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 0161 342 3036
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 0161 342 2187
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