Around 10,500 Babergh households who have updated their electoral role information using the phone or internet have managed to save their district council £1,000 in postal charges.
In August, new voter registration forms dropped on to the doormats of 38,500 residential properties across the Babergh district.
The Council has been pleased with the response so far, which is nearly one thousand more than at the same time last year, but there are still 13,000 properties where no reply has yet been received.
Ray Amesbury, Babergh’s Senior Democratic Services Manager, said: “We are delighted at the number of people who have chosen to use the telephone and internet service to reply as this helps us to keep the cost of compiling the new register down.
“But, although we are pleased with the response so far, we cannot afford to be complacent.
“By law, we have to complete a full canvass every year to ensure that everyone who is entitled to be on the electoral roll is registered and so we will shortly be posting out reminder forms to the addresses that have still to respond.
“After that, the Council will need to hire canvassers to obtain the information. This is a much more expensive proposition and so I would urge everyone to return their details as soon as possible and, if there are no changes to be made to those already printed on their form, to use the telephone or internet service wherever possible.”
The information that householders provide will be used to create the register of electors that will be published on 1 December and will continue in force until the end of November 2011.
The register will be used to determine who may vote at all elections and referendums held during that period.
Where changes are required to the details already printed on the forms, householders should mark the changes on the form and return it by post in the envelope provided to Babergh District Council’s offices in Corks Lane, Hadleigh, Ipswich, IP7 6SJ. The changes will then come into effect upon publication of the new register in December.
Anyone who needs help with filling in the form, should call Babergh’s electoral services office on (01473) 825713. ENDS
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