The annual canvass 2024

About the annual canvass

The annual canvass is carried out by all authorities in the UK to confirm who lives at an address and to check who is eligible to vote. This is so that the electoral register is complete and accurate.

From the beginning of October this year, we will send all households in the Dorset Council area a canvass communication containing the details of all those in the household who are registered to vote.

Each household is required by law to make sure that the details stated in the communication are correct.

How we will contact you and what you need to do

For the first part of the annual canvass process, we undertake data matching exercises against Department for Works and Pensions records and Council Tax records. Depending on the results of these exercises, we will send every household in the Dorset Council area either an email, or Canvass Communication A or Canvass Form in the post.

By law, you must make sure the details for your household in the canvass communication are correct.

Make sure you respond to the email, Canvass Communication A or Canvass Form as soon as possible. By law, we must send reminders to each household if we do not receive a response, and finally telephone or visit households, which costs the council money.

Please note that adding details of new individuals by any of the communication methods below does not mean that their details are then included on the register. They still need to make an individual registration, which can be done at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Email

We will send an email if we have an email address for a member of your household and we are not aware of any changes in the household. You must respond to this email.

The email will come from elections@elections.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and will have the subject line of "Act Now so Dorset Council can check who is eligible to be registered to vote".

Canvass Communication A

If we don't have an email address for your household, and we are not aware of any changes in the household, we will send a Canvass Communication A (an A4 sheet with “CCA” printed in the top left corner).

If the details are all correct, you do not need to do anything. Your registration is confirmed and does not need to be updated.

If your details have changed or you need to add or remove people, you must respond by:

visiting the website www.householdresponse.com/dorset and entering Part 1 and Part 2 of the security code shown on the canvass communication when prompted and then following the instructions on deletion/addition, or
phoning 0800 8840701 and giving Part 1 and Part 2 of the security code shown on the canvass communication when prompted, or
returning your amended form to Electoral Services

Canvass Form

If the data matching exercises we undertake indicate that there may be changes to a household, we will send a Canvass Form (an A3 sheet with “CF” printed in top left corner of front page).

You must respond to this form, even if there are no changes.

If you have no changes to the form, you can:

phone 0800 8840701, giving Part 1 and Part 2 of the security code shown on the canvass form when prompted, or
text “NOCHANGE” to 80212 or
return the confirmed form to Electoral Services in the envelope provided

You can add, amend or delete information included on the form by:

visiting the website www.householdresponse.com/dorset and entering Part 1 and Part 2 of the security code shown on the canvass form when prompted and then following the instructions on deletion/addition, or
returning the amended form to Electoral Services in the envelope provided

Adding someone's details

Even if you have registered for council tax, your details will not be entered onto the electoral register automatically.

You should add your details if you have recently moved.

16 and 17 year olds in the household need to be added.

Deleting someone's details

If you delete someone’s details, we may write to the individual to confirm they no longer live there.

Students

If you're a student, you may be able to register to vote at both your home address and your term-time address. This does not necessarily mean that you can vote more than once in elections taking place on the same day. Find out more about registering to vote and voting as a student.

Special category electors

Your name will not appear in the email or on the form sent to the property if you’re a special category elector, such as a service voter or overseas voter.

Registering to vote

Adding details of new individuals does not add them to the electoral register. They still need to register to vote. They will need to provide their national insurance number as part of the registration process.

If they do not register online within a couple of weeks of their details being added through the annual canvass, we need to send out a paper form for them to complete, and then reminders, which costs the council money.