ELECTIONS
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With the general election approaching on 7 May, the council is reminding every resident
who will be aged 18 or over on that date to make sure they are registered to vote.
T
he biggest change to voter
registration in a lifetime
started last year as our
borough joined the rest of the
country in switching to a new system.
Following the UK’s change over to
an individual electoral registration
(IER) system, the way you register
has changed. Previously, electoral
registration forms were annually
completed on behalf of a household.
This included families and individuals
such as students or people renting who
are not related living in one property.
Now, in a bid to cut down on electoral
fraud and to increase confidence
in the system, everyone eligible to
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around ealing
Spring 2015
vote will have to register themselves,
individually. To make this easier, a new
online registration form is available at
www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Most Ealing residents who were
registered to vote by 10 June 2014
will have been registered automatically
under the new system and should have
received letters to confirm their status.
Do not worry if you are not
registered – it is easy to do and should
only take a few minutes. Before you
start, make sure you have your national
insurance number to hand and use
your name the way it appears on
your official documents to avoid your
registration not being verified.
Anyone new to the borough can
register online at www.gov.uk/registerto-vote or contact electoral services
on 0208 825 7777 or email
[email protected] to request
a paper form. You can also contact
the electoral services team if you are
unsure about your registration status.
WHY SHOULD I REGISTER?
You will need to be on the electoral
register to be able to vote in the May
general election. Being registered to vote
does not mean you have to, it just means
you can. If you are not on the register, that
choice is taken away. Not being registered
may also affect your credit rating.