Door to door canvassers help residents avoid fines
More than 24,000 households across Hounslow will be visited by canvassers from the Council during forthcoming weekends until Monday 1st November to collect unreturned electoral registration forms.
The team of canvassers delivered registration forms to every home in this borough between August 5 and 10. A reminder was sent out in September.
Households that fail to register their form face prosecution with a maximum fine of £1,000 open to magistrates. Last year, Hounslow Council prosecuted 25 people who failed to return their form, each with a fine.
The form is addressed to the ‘Present Occupier’, so if the names that appear pre-printed on the form no longer live at the address, the current occupier must cross out their names and write in the names of the new occupiers.
Residents who have not yet returned their forms, registered via the freephone number or internet service are reminded to register as soon as possible by returning their completed forms, or, if there are no changes to be made, registering by telephone or the internet.
If the information on the form needs changing, the form should be filled in, signed and returned by post in the envelope provided as quickly as possible.
Even if the information on the form is correct and no changes are required the householder still needs to register to confirm their details. This can be done by:
• Calling freephone 0800 197 4916 (English), or 0800 107 4916 (other languages) 24 hours a day; residents will be asked for a two-part security code, which can be found on the form.
• Visiting www.registerbyinternet.com/hounslow or
• Returning the signed form in the envelope provided.
Cllr Jagdish Sharma, leader of Hounslow Council said: “It’s quite an operation, and our canvassers work hard to collect all the unreturned forms across the borough to ensure we fulfil our statutory duty of keeping the electoral register up to date.
“Even if none of your details have changed you still have to let us know, and there are many ways of getting in contact with the council to keep us informed.”
If residents haven’t received a form, or need more information about electoral registration, they should contact:
Electoral Services,
London Borough of Hounslow,
Civic Centre,
Lampton Road,
Hounslow,
TW3 4DN.
or email elections@hounslow.gov.uk or call 020 8583 2828.
October 18, 2010