NEWS RELEASES
Are you registered to vote?
6th September 2007
WORK has begun on updating the electoral register and names of all occupiers resident in the Horsham District on 15 October 2007.
The information is needed so that records are correct until November next year.
Horsham District Council is sending out forms to every property in the District and for most people it will be a simple matter of checking details and returning forms in pre-paid envelopes.
The Council will also use personal canvassers to follow up unreturned forms.
The revised Register of Electors will be effective from 1 December and will be valid for all elections during 2008. Residents not on the register cannot vote and may not be able to get credit.
As well as the above process, the Council also carry out monthly updates from January to September so those who have moved house or missed registering can still let us know about changed circumstances.
If residents are not on the current register they should complete the ‘rolling register’ form available from Horsham District Council’s Election office.
The current register in the Horsham District numbers 99,441 people.
Of that total, there are 11,000 registered postal voters and, in spite of some problems in limited areas elsewhere in the country, the Council expects this convenient method to become even more popular.
To make postal voting more secure, postal voters have to provide a signature and date of birth when they apply and when they cast their postal votes at election time, so that the two can be compared before acceptance.
The golden rule with postal vote applications and ballot papers is to return them directly to the Council office or a polling station by post or by hand, and never under any circumstances hand them over to a third party.
Proxy votes are often used by people who will be abroad at the time of an election, in which case they can nominate someone they trust to vote for them.
For more information or questions please call Horsham District Council on 01403 215126, email: elections@horsham.gov.uk or visit the website
Ends
CONTACT: Richard Morris, Communications Manager
Email: richard.morris@horsham.gov.uk