Summary
This page contains information on the Register of Electors and includes guidance on who is eligible to register; the process of how you can register as an elector to vote and how you may inspect the register.
Electoral Services Infromation
To upload Registration forms and to discover information about our Electoral Services, including information on previous and forthcoming Elections; Wards, Polling Districts and Polling Stations etc. click on the following link which will take you our Electoral Services page.
The Register of Electors
Electoral Registration Officer for each area has a statutory reasonability to compile and maintain lists of individuals who are eligible to vote.
There are lists of:-
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UK Parliamentary and Local Government Electors, and
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Citizens of the European Union who are entitled to vote at European Parliamentary Elections
Electoral Registration Officer produces two versions of the Register, a 'full' and an 'edited' version. The 'full' version is used for electoral purposes and by the credit reference agencies. The 'edited' version can be sold for any purpose including marketing.
It is a legal requirement to have your name included on the Register of Electors. Beware that you are not automatically registered even if you do pay council tax, claim befits or if your details are held by any other section of the Council.
Who is Eligible to Register?
Age
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You must be 16 years old (although you cannot vote until your 18th birthday).
Residence
You can register only for the address where you are resident. Other individuals you should include are:-
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People who are temporarily away. For example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital.
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Any other residents, lodgers or guests (but not short stay visitors) at your address
Nationality
You are entitled to register to vote if you are a:-
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British citizen
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Citizen of the Irish Republic
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Citizen of other European Union countries. European Union citizens will be registered as local government electors only (except citizens of Cyprus, Malta, or the Irish Republic, who can vote in all elections).
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Qualifying Commonwealth citizen. This means Commonwealth citizens who:-
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have leave to enter or remain in the UK; or
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do not require such leave.
Additions, Deletions and Amendments to the Register
From December to September each year Electoral Registration Officer maintains a 'Rolling Registration' process which involves a monthly rolling programme of amendments, deletions and additions, to the Register. You provide the Electoral Registration Officer with the information to make the amendments to the Register by completing and returning a Voter Registration Form at any time of the year. However, there are no amendments made during September, October or November during the 'Annual Canvass Period' when all eligible members of households have to register anyway.
The Register of Electors for the Borough of Oadby and Wigston
The Register for Oadby and Wigston is compiled, maintained and kept at the Council Offices on Station Road in Wigston. Anyone can request to inspect the full Register at any reasonable time during normal office hours. However, the Register is also used by many organisations to check your identity and not being registered at your current address can affect your credit rating and could prevent you from obtaining or purchasing some services or commodities like the following for instance:-
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opening a bank account
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getting a mobile phone contract
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buying a house
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receiving a student grant, and so on.
How is the Register Compiled and Published?
The Register is published every year on 1st December and amendments to the Register are subsequently made each month from December to September in a rolling programme.
The Annual Canvass
Every year, prior to publication of the Register on 1st December, we carry out an audit of the, commonly known as the 'Annual Canvass'. During the 'Annual Canvass Period', which begins in around mid August and ends in late November, a special Voter Registration Form is delivered to every household in the Borough.
Completing the Annual Canvass Registration Form
It is essential that all occupiers of property within the Borough who receive an Annual Canvass Registration Form respond by completing the form as soon as possible after it is received. The form must be completed and signed to declare it accurately reflects the names, and other relevant information, of all those individuals who are eligible to vote and those who will attain the age of 18 within the next year ending on 30th November and are resident in your household on the 15th October. It is important that the information you provide is as accurate as it can be because the Register of Electors is complied and published every year in December as a result of the information which you provide on the Annual Canvass Form.
Voter Registration Form
During the 'Rolling Registration Period' you should use a Voter Registration form to inform the Electoral Registration Officer about any amendments, deletions or additions to the Register. We can provide a suitable Voter Registration Form on request to be delivered to you by post, email or a form may be uploaded at anytime from our website.
When do the Amendments take Affect?
Any amendments to the Register which are made will usually take effect on the first day of the following month. So that your amendments, deletions or additions to the Register are applied and take affect as soon as possible you will need to ensure your application is with us before the monthly deadline. For more details see the table below.
Monthly Deadlines
for the Register of Electors
(December 2009 to Sepember 2010)
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If we get the form before 5 pm on:-
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The details will be added or changed on:-
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Friday, 11 December 2009
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Monday, 4 January 2010
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Friday, 8 January 2010
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Monday, 1 February 2010
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Friday, 5 February 2010
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Monday, 1 March 2010
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Tuesday, 10 March 2010
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Thursday, 1 April 2010
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Monday, 12 April 2010
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Tuesday, 4 May 2010
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Monday, 10 May 2010
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Tuesday, 1 June 2010
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Wednesday, 9 June 2010
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Thursday, 1 July 2010
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Friday, 9 July 2010
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Monday, 2 August 2010
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Tuesday, 10 August 2010
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Wednesday, 1 September 2010
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IMPORTANT
In accordance with the Representation of the People Acts, any application to be registered as an elector is subject to public inspection to allow for objection to the application to be made. At the end of this 5 day period of public inspection if no objection has been received the applicant may be added to the Register of Electors in accordance with the statutory timetable set out above.
Apply to Register
All Voter Registration Application Forms must be received by the Electoral Registration Officer who is situated in the main Council offices before the end of normal office hours on the deadline date shown in the table above.
You Have To Sign Your Form. Someone Else Cannot Do This For You
Documentary proof of residence may also be required.
Forms may be returned by:-
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Hand – to the main Council Offices
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Post – to the address shown at the bottom of the page
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Fax – to 0116 288 7828 – Headed 'To The Electoral Registration Officer'
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Email – to electoral.services@oadby-wigston.gov.uk|
Please note that emails are not acceptable unless the form is attached as a scanned copy.
Have you Moved Address into the Oadby and Wigston Area?
When you application to register is accepted, we will also tell the Electoral Registration Officer for your old address that you have moved, so that your name can be removed from that districts register. People who live at two homes (including students) are allowed to register at both. People may only be included on the register for an address at which they live. For example, owning but not living in the property does not qualify.
The Edited Register
The 'edited register' can be sold to anybody and used for any purpose. You can choose not to appear on this register by ticking the relevant box on the Registration form
The Full Register
The 'full register' lists everyone who is entitled to vote including those who have chosen not to appear on the 'edited register'. Only certain people and organisations can have copies of the full register, and they can use it only for:-
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electoral purposes
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the prevention and detection of crime and
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checking your identity when you have applied for credit.
It is a criminal offence for them to pass this information on to anyone else or to use it for any other purpose.
Inspection of the Register
Unfortunately we are not at liberty to directly divulge information contained in the Register of Electors to anyone other than those persons or organisations which under legislation has provided us to do so. However the law does allow for anyone to inspect the Register in person.
Inspecting the Register - You must be supervised
There is a statutory requirement that when anyone inspects the Register they must be supervised by a person who has been authorised for the purpose. Our Customer Service Advisors have been authorised to supervise you when viewing the Register and they will be pleased to help you with your enquiry.
The Register of Electors may be inspected at our Customer Service Points and these are located at the Council Offices and inside the Libraries situated within the Borough.
The libraries have resticted opeming hours. For up to date details of the opening times, please contact us on 0116 257 2722 or 288 8961.
What to Expect When You Inspect the Register
It is a Register of Electors, compiled and set out in the following order.
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Polling Districts
of which there are 19 polling districts in Oadby and Wigston.
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Streets and Subgroups
of which there are more than 800
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Properties
household addresses of which there are more than 24,000 residential properties
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Electors
names of individuals of which there are more than 45,000 eligible registered electors
If, for example, you wish to inspect the Register to find a person (an elector), you may have to view the details of up to around 24,000 properties set in 19 polling districts. Our Customer Service Advisors have been trained to help you, where they can, to guide you through this process.
The streets and subgroups appear in alphabetical order as do the names of the electors at each address. If you have some information to begin your enquiry, such as an address, the name of a street or small list of street names, your enquiry should not take too long.
However, as a starting point, if you do not have any address information or if your enquiry will be time consuming, you should consider making a specific appointment with a member of our Customer Service Advisors to view the Register. Legislation prohibits you from keeping or taking away any part of the Register. However, you may make notes of the information provided by the register.
View by Appointment?
It is not normally necessary to make an appointment to inspect the Register of Electors at the Council Offices or at any of the other of the Councils Customer Service Points. However, some inspections may be time consuming and therefore it would help us and save your time if you first telephone and provide brief details of your enquiry to our Customer Service Advisors so they can prepare the relevant section of the Register for your inspection and, if it is necessary, make a specific appointment to for you.
Times and Contacts
Inspections of the Register at the Council offices may be made during normal office weekday hours which are 8:45am to 4:45pm Monday to Thursday and 8:45am to 4:15pm on Friday. Times at other locations may vary.
For up-to-date information about opening times at the other Customer Service Point locations within the Borough you should contact us on 0116 257 2722.
Electoral Servicers enquiry help line
Contact us by telephone on Leicester (0116) 257 2722 or email customerservices@oadby-wigston.gov.uk| to make a request to inspect the Register of Electors or if you have any other electoral query.
If you wish to inspect the register, it would help and save your time if you could provide us with the initial details of your enquiry when you call.
Any Other Electoral Queries?
You may also contact the Officers in our Electoral Services Office with any other queries on telephone number 0116 257 2604 of by email to electoral.serives@oadby-wigston.gov.uk|
Written correspondence should be addressed to:-
Electoral Services
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
Council Offices
Station Road
Wigston
Leicestershire
LE18 2DR