Play your part in this year's electoral canvass

05 July 2018

Canvass forms for 2018 will be arriving in households across Grampian from this week.

Making sure your details are correct on the electoral register is vital if you are to vote in any local or national elections.

Every year a form is sent out with members of the household listed, seeking confirmation that the details are correct. This process is called the annual canvass.

The Grampian Electoral Registration team is encouraging people to use the automated response function to make their return as soon as possible.

This enables householders to respond online, by text or telephone - all the details are provided on the form received.

Responding quickly using the automated system saves time and taxpayers' money while performing a vital role in our democratic system.

Last year 95,000 of 276,000 households across Grampian responded using the automated system - an increase of more than 20,000 on the previous year.

Grampian Electoral Registration Officer Ian Milton said: "Each online response saves 21p per household in postage alone, not to mention the savings in back-office processing costs, which when taken into account more than doubles the saving. Telephone and text responses save similar amounts.

"Further, if householders respond before we have to issue a reminder, in excess of £50,000 will be saved – a potential saving of over £100,000 it the automated systems are used to make a swift response."