Annual household canvass

A Household Enquiry Form is sent to every household every year, even if you are already registered to vote. The purpose of the form is to confirm who lives at your address. This means we can invite other residents, including any 16 and 17 year-olds, to register to vote if we need to.

To check who is eligible to register to vote, including any 16 or 17 year-olds, we need to know who lives at your address. The information provided on the form will allow us to send a separate individual registration form (ITR) to all the people in your household who are eligible and need to register to vote.

If you don't wish to make any changes to the household enquiry form, you can confirm the information online(www.householdresponse.com/hastings), by telephone or text. You will need the security code on the form. If you need to make any changes you can only do this online (www.householdresponse.com/hastings) or by sending the form back to us in the envelope provided.

If you don't complete the first form you receive, a reminder form will be sent to you by post. If you don't complete the reminder form we will ask a personal canvasser to visit your property with a third reminder. Our canvassers will be able to help you to complete the form if you wish.

From the information provided on the form we can ask people to register to vote who are eligible, if they are not already registered. You are not automatically registered to vote by completing the household enquiry form. You can register to vote here - https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

It only takes a few minutes. You need to include the name and nationality of everyone aged 16 or over who is resident and eligible to register to vote. If there are no eligible residents, you should state why this is the case. If anyone listed on the form is not living at your address, their name/s should be clearly crossed through.

If anyone listed on the form is not living at your address, their name/s should be clearly crossed through.

Everyone aged 16 and over who is resident and eligible to register to vote should be included. If there are no eligible residents, you should state why this is the case.

Yes, it is required by law to provide the information requested. There is a criminal penalty for failing to provide the required information to the Electoral Registration Officer of a maximum of £1,000. The penalty for providing false information to an Electoral Registration Officer is imprisonment of up to six months or, (on summary conviction) an unlimited fine.

It is helpful for us if include your email address and phone number but you do not have to. We will use this information only in connection with your registration, and it helps us to contact you if there is a problem.

Yes. The household enquiry form is not a registration form. It provides us with information on who lives in your household. This means we can invite other residents, including any 16 or 17 year-olds, to register to vote if we need to.

Yes. You should complete and return the registration form or register to vote online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Yes, we will be sending personal canvassers out to visit all those households who have not returned their household enquiry form. The door to door canvass will from 11 October to 22 November. Our canvassers will be wearing Hastings Borough Council ID badges to show they are working for us, so please ask to see their identification if you are in any doubt.

Once you are registered to vote you will be on the electoral register. There are two types of electoral register. The electoral register (commonly known as full register) and the open register (formerly known as the edited register). The full register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in national and local elections. This register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote. It is also used for other limited purposes specified in law, such as detecting crime (e.g. fraud), calling people for jury service and checking credit applications. The open register is an extract of the full register, but is not used for elections. It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details. Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register does not affect your right to vote. Use this online form https://my.hastings.gov.uk/service/Electoral_registration_query