Valerie marks National Voter Registration Day

Thursday 5 February 2015 is National Voter Registration Day. Valerie is reminding residents of Walsall South to register so they can vote on Thursday 7 May 2015 when the General and Local Elections will be held.

Valerie said:

“National Voter Registration day is a good way of reminding people the system of Electoral Registration has changed. With the new Individual Electoral Registration it is now the responsibility of each individual to register to vote.”

“Recent figures have shown that only half of young people aged 19-24 are currently registered to vote compared with 94% of those aged 65 and over and only 56% of people living in private rented homes are registered to vote compared with 88% of home owners. Students and people living in homes of multiple occupancy are also less likely to be registered to vote. In previous years students were registered by their college or university but now there is no obligation on them to register their students. Many students do not realise that they can be registered at their place of study and at their home address but must only vote once.”

“Walsall MBC has said that anyone already registered to vote will not be removed from the register. There are a number of steps which Councils could take to encourage people to register to vote, such as media campaigns, giving people the opportunity to register to vote when paying Council Tax, approaching new social housing tenants and by matching the Electoral Register against national information from Government Departments.”

“The right to vote is the basis of our democracy. It is important that everyone makes sure that they are registered to vote.”

To register to vote, please visit http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote/