Witney News - Get your voice heard

Get your voice heard

Residents are being urged to make sure they register their right to vote so they can get their voice heard at the next General and Local Elections.

Without a vote, people will not be able to have a say on the way their council services are delivered or, with a General Election guaranteed by next June, the way the country is run.

If they are not on the Electoral Register, they may also find it difficult to do other things, such as getting a loan or mortgage or mobile phone contract, as registration is one of the criteria used by credit checking agencies. Other pitfalls include not being eligible to apply for certain jobs which require security checks and not being able to open a bank account.

All people need to do is look out for Electoral Registration forms which are being delivered to households across West Oxfordshire. It is simple and takes just a couple of minutes to respond – if they have no changes to make, all they need to do is send a text, call a freephone number or visit www.westoxon.gov.uk to confirm this. If they need to make changes, they can simply fill in the form and return it in the pre-paid envelope provided.

As well as ensuring they are on the register, registering quickly could help to save thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent by councils to issue reminders and carry out door-to-door visits to get people signed up.

Keith Butler, Head of Electoral Services at West Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Councils are obliged to issue these reminders to ensure that everyone has a chance of being on the Electoral Register. I would urge all of our residents to look out for their forms and respond to them as quickly as possible.

“Registering ensures that they have the chance to vote on issues that directly affect them in both the national and local elections, and have peace of mind that something as important as their credit rating is not affected simply because they haven’t taken a couple of minutes to get their name registered.”

For more information about Electoral Registration, visit www.westoxon.gov.uk/registration or call 01993 861525