Somerset residents are being urged to check their electoral registration details or risk losing their chance to vote on decisions that affect them.

The annual canvass allows Somerset Council to keep the electoral register up to date, to identify who risks losing their voice at elections, and to encourage them to register before it is too late.

The Council is legally required to undertake this annual canvass of all of the residential properties in the area, to make sure that the information on the electoral register for every address is accurate and up to date.

Letters are going out to an initial 83,000 households across the County.  All other households will be written to later this month, so residents do not need worry if they do not receive a letter in the coming weeks. The correspondence will be addressed to the occupier and includes full details of what steps to take.

If residents tell the Council there are new people eligible to be registered at their address, they will receive an ‘invitation to register form’ either through the post (or via email, if this contact method has been provided).  They can also go online to register to vote at Register to vote – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Recent home movers are urged to check their details. Electoral Commission research has found that recent home movers are less likely to be registered than those who have lived at the same address for a long time. In Great Britain, 92% of those who have lived in their home for 16 years will be registered, compared with 36% of people who have lived at an address for less than a year.

More information on registering to vote is available on the Electoral Commission website.