Delivering the annual canvass - England

How can I target new electors if an election is held during the canvass? 

If an election is to be held during the canvass, your focus will need to be on any new potential electors identified who have not yet registered. 

You should consider how best to use your resources to target these individuals and to chase up responses to any Route 2 or 3 canvass communications, so that as many eligible electors as possible are registered in time for the election. 

Your plan should address such things as:

• what canvassers will have to do differently
• how canvass staff will be informed of an election and given their revised instructions
• what you will do to maximise returns in the affected area(s) to reduce potential disenfranchisement
• how you will identify and prioritise the processing of canvass communications and ITRs for the affected area(s)
• how the canvass will resume after the election
• when you will publish the revised register and what factors will be considered in making the decision
• how you will communicate decisions to local political parties, elected representatives and other interested individuals and groups

Printing polling districts on canvass communications and ITRs will enable you to quickly identify and prioritise these forms where an election is in only part of the registration area. 

You can include other registration-related information in the same envelope as an ITR, such as information about the registration deadline for a forthcoming poll. 

If the election affects the whole of the registration area, it will be particularly important that your resources are targeted to maximise the number of eligible electors registered in time to participate in the election. 

Every effort should be made to conclude all visits well in advance of the registration deadline, but, given the time constraints and depending on the timing of the election, this might not always be feasible. 

You should use local data records and your knowledge about your local area to identify any new electors, and any properties where there are likely to have been changes. These could then be prioritised for personal visits.

You could also consider amending your approach to follow up activities for any non-responding Route 2 or Route 3 properties in the area affected by the election. For example, you might choose to send additional e-comms reminders or make personal contact by phone instead of face to face visit where possible.

The local authority that appointed you as ERO must, by law, provide you with the resources you need to discharge your statutory functions.

Use local media and public awareness exercises to set out to residents how they can register to vote in time to be included on the register for use at the election.

In the event of any UK-wide poll during the canvass, it will be important to link your local messaging with any communication activity by the Commission in order to maximise its impact.

Where the election crosses local council boundaries, you should liaise with the ERO in the other local council(s) to ensure a consistent approach and messaging across the electoral area.

How can I use my canvassers to target new electors if an election is held during the canvass? 

Your plans should be flexible enough to allow you to re-allocate staff resources to ensure as many responses as possible are collected and returned to the electoral registration office from the relevant the area(s) in time to be processed and determined for the final election notice of alteration. 

As a minimum, canvassers working in the area(s) affected by an election should return any voter registration forms that they have collected as soon as possible, and by the registration application deadline for that election.

You should provide details in instructions to canvassers on how often forms should be returned to the registration office if an election occurs.

Registration application forms collected by canvassers by the registration deadline, are deemed to have met the registration deadline even if not brought to the office of the Electoral Registration Officer until after the registration deadline. Canvassing only needs to pause in the area(s) affected by the election. 

Canvassers in the electoral area(s) affected by the election should, if they are not already, encourage occupiers who are not registered to do so online (or by telephone if you offer this service), and highlight the registration application deadline. They could have blank registration forms available for potential electors to complete where they do not have access to the internet.

To ensure that only forms received before the registration deadline will be processed canvassers should be instructed to suspend personal visits by the end of the twelfth day before the poll.