Every year, we are required by law to complete a canvass of every household in the Bury Metropolitan Borough area to check and update each household's electoral information. This is known as the annual canvass and is carried out between July and December.
The purpose of the annual canvass is to:
- Identify any newly eligible to vote residents
- Remove those that have moved away or are no longer eligible to vote
- Ensure that the electoral register is accurate for elections
How we will contact you
We may contact you be email, text message, telephone call, post or a personal visit to your address. Even if you have responded to similar requests in the past, or have already registered to vote, you may still need to respond as soon as possible.
- By email - If we hold an email address for someone in your household, we will send an email with instructions on how to respond to the annual canvass. All emails will be sent from ElectionsCanvass@Bury.gov.uk
- By post - If we do not hold an email address for someone in your property OR if you do not respond to an email communication, we will send a physical form through the post. If you do not respond to this form, we will send you a reminder
- In person - From mid-October, a team of canvassers will visit households which have not yet responded to email or physical form communications. These staff will be issued with Bury Council ID and will carry tablet devices.
The communication you receive will tell you if you do or do not need to respond.
You'll only have to respond if:
- you're told to do so
- you need to make any changes or additions to the information provided
If you are instructed to respond, but we do not receive a response, you may receive a personal visit from one of our canvassers asking to check the information we hold is correct, even if you have recently registered to vote.
You may receive an Invitation to Register form after completing the annual canvass
An Invitation to Register to Vote (ITR) form is sent out to all new residents who have been identified through the annual canvass. Completing the annual canvass form does not mean that you are registered to vote.
The reason for sending an ITR is that the law requires residents to provide us with various information, such as your National Insurance Number and date of birth, when registering to vote.
If you do not respond to the initial ITR, we are required to send you reminders. If you think that you should not be registered to vote, please contact us at ElectionServices@Bury.gov.uk
Visit our register to vote area or the Electoral Commission website for information on registering to vote and voter information.
Please note:
- The forms are addressed to ‘The Resident’ and not to an individual.
- An eligible resident that needs to be added to a form will also need to register to vote. They can do this by going online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.