Wokingham

Back in the summer, Wokingham District Council sent a clear message to its residents not to lose their vote and to make sure they were on the annual register of electors. And the canvass was a massive success with almost 95% (94.8%) of those eligible to vote returning their forms – 12% higher than last year’s figure! This return rate saw one of the highest percentage improvements in Berkshire.

Published on December 1, the register lists everyone who is eligible to vote at elections. Anyone who is not registered cannot vote. The register is also used by all the main credit companies as a check when anyone wants a mortgage, a loan or even a mobile phone. If they are not listed, residents may find it difficult to get approval for these kinds of services.

This year, Wokingham residents had the opportunity to register by telephone, by returning the completed form through the post or via the internet. And in line with new legislation about registering for elections, the district council also sent canvassers to properties who had not registered to vote, in a further bid to help people make sure they are registered and able to vote at elections. Some 60 canvassers, who had all received special training, visited approximately 8,000 households in the district during November making it the most successful canvass ever.

Alison Wood, Wokingham electoral services manager, said: “The council sent a clear message to residents that if they don’t register they can’t vote and they would lose their say in local politics. We are pleased that we had such a good return rate. We very much hope that these people will vote at the local elections in May.

“I would like to say a big thank you to the canvassers who worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to ensure that as many local residents as possible took part in this canvass. We had a far better response than I dared hope for!”

The annual registration forms were delivered to the 60,000 households in the district during September. The forms are used to compile the 2007 electoral register, and only people listed on the register will be entitled to vote in local and general elections and referendums between December 1, 2006 and November 30, 2007.

There are two versions of the Wokingham register. The full register lists everyone who is entitled to vote and is used for electoral purposes, the prevention and detection of crime and checking identity when applying for credit. The edited register, which can be bought by anyone, leaves out the names and addresses of those electors who have ticked on the form to be excluded from it.

Wokingham District Council