Make sure you can vote

PEOPLE in North Devon who have yet to return their electoral registration forms are being reminded to do so quickly, to help keep costs down.   The forms help North Devon Council compile a new electoral register, which, apart from enabling residents to vo

PEOPLE in North Devon who have yet to return their electoral registration forms are being reminded to do so quickly, to help keep costs down.

The forms help North Devon Council compile a new electoral register, which, apart from enabling residents to vote in any future elections, are required by law to be completed.

Next week, reminder letters will be sent out to all households that haven't responded, which costs council taxpayers' money. If there is still no reply, the council then has to send staff to homes to personally ask for the forms back, raising costs even further.

Electoral Services Officer Judith Dark says: "We sent out 44,000 forms in August, but are still waiting for 14,000 to be returned. This may be for a number of reasons - maybe they've lost or forgotten about the forms, had no interest in filling them out, or perhaps the home is empty. However, what many people don't seem to realise is that they are required by law to give us the information, with residents risking a fine of up to �1,000 if they continue to ignore them."

All forms have to be returned by November 23. The forms are then all manually sorted by the council's Electoral Registrations team, with the details used to make up the electoral register. This is published on 1 December.

For further information about voting, contact the council's Electoral Registrations team on 01271 388277 or email elections@northdevon.gov.uk. You can also visit the government's website www.aboutmyvote.co.uk for more advice.