Your right to vote - Register or loose it

The existing arrangements for compiling the Register of Electors are due for a major

Your Vote, Use it or loose it

 change in 2014 through the introduction of individual elector registration (IER).  This change allows residents to take individual responsibility and control of their right to vote.  This will replace the household registration scheme which has been open to abuse.  Under the new arrangements each person will be asked to give their name, national insurance number and date of birth, this information is then verified against Department of Works and pension’s data for your eligibility to vote.

Arun has a low registration level compared to other Districts in West Sussex with only 82.7% of the population registering and there will be a major push to improve on that figure.  Many residents do not want to vote and can’t be bothered to go through the registration policy, but I believe they are missing a trick.

The credit checking companies use electoral registration as a major part of building credit records, so if you are not registered to vote and wonder why a recent credit agreement was refused, this may be the reason.

The coming elections are the European elections in May 2014 for the election of Members to the European Parliament and the General Election for the election of our MP and local elections for Arun District in 2015; this is when yours truly will stand for re-election to Arun District.  So I would urge all residents if you’re not already registered to register and vote at the next election, but even if you don’t register for poorly altruistic reasons, then register to improve your credit rating.  If you need to register, then letters are being sent out by Arun to all households, but you can get information on the Arun web site  www.arun.gov.uk and look for the Council and Democracy page and then go to the bottom right hand corner and look for the register of electors.

Until next months report, you can contact me via email Pauldendle@aol.com