Annual Voter Registration 2023

Respond to the annual canvass

We need you to confirm who is eligible to register to vote at your address.

Please use the button below, this will take you to another page where you can enter your unique code and update your information.

Respond to annual canvass online

In 2020, the law changed the way we review the register of electors each year.

The changes were intended to save taxpayers money and make it easier for electors to register to vote. 

Even under these new rules, we are still required to contact all residential addresses in Cornwall. This is to check that the information we hold on the electoral register is complete and accurate.

If we ask you to respond, please use our online, telephone or e-mail services if you can, to avoid us having to handle post or make personal visits to your home to get the information we need.

Timetable

This year, we will conduct the annual review (known as the annual canvass) as follows:

Data matching

Before we contact any properties or electors, we carry out a national data matching exercise. This checks information we hold about existing electors on our register (name, address and, where known, date of birth) against data held by the government’s Department for Work and Pensions. 

We may also make similar checks against our other council records, such as council tax. This exercise is to help identify properties where residents may have changed.

After data matching, we contact properties or electors following one of these three routes:

Route 1

If we believe there are no changes needed at a property and no electors to be added, we will confirm this by sending a notification letter to that address.

The occupier of the property must check that all the information in the letter is correct. A response is only needed if any information is wrong. We will not send a reminder.

We also want to reduce the number of notification letters we have to send out. For this reason, we may initially e-mail members of the household for whom we hold an e-mail address.

The e-mail will ask them to:

• go online to confirm the details at the property are still correct; or
• tell us of any changes.

If we get no response to the email, we will send a notification letter.

From late July, if you need to make any changes, we will need a reply:

• via the online automated household response service, or
• by post if you do not have access to the internet.

Instructions will be printed in the notification letter.

When possible, please use our online service to help us reduce postage and handling costs to save taxpayers’ money.

Route 2

If we believe changes may be needed or electors added at a property, we will send a paper form to that address. Even if the elector details on the form are correct and no changes are required, the occupier of the property must respond:

• online
• via our telephone response service
• by post.

The first forms will go out in late July. Reminders will be issued if necessary.

If possible, please respond by using our online or telephone response services. This avoids us having to handle post or make personal visits to your property to get the information we need.

Route 3

For certain types of properties, we will contact one responsible person where necessary to establish who is resident at the property. This will be a person who has access to and may lawfully disclose information of each person who is eligible to be registered at the property. This will include properties such as:

• Registered residential care homes
• Houses of multiple occupation
• Student accommodation

The responsible person will need to check the elector details on the form and inform us of any changes required, either:

• online
• via our telephone response service, or
• by post.

If you are a responsible person for a property, please use our online or telephone response services, if possible. This avoids us having to handle post or make personal visits to your property to get the information we need.

New residents

Any person identified under routes 1, 2 or 3 above who is not already registered at their address will need to register individually if they are able to do so. We will send them a paper Invitation to Register form and ask them to either return their completed form or register online via the government website.

If possible, please respond online to help us reduce postage and handling costs to save taxpayers’ money.

End of annual canvass

At the end of the canvass, we will publish a revised version of the electoral register on 1 February 2024.