Households around the Island have started to receive the paperwork required to enable them to confirm their details for the Island’s electoral register.

As at the 1st January 2016 there were a total of 49,149 electors on the register.

Being unregistered can affect a person’s credit reference history and excludes them from jury service.  Being on the register does not mean you have to vote but it is a legal requirement to return the completed form. The forms must be returned by the 1st February.  A potential fine of up to ?1,000 can be enforced if the requested information isn't provided.

Electoral Registration Officer Della Fletcher explained the reason behind the annual process: ‘An accurate electoral register is important for the integrity of the democratic process. Over time people change address and the register becomes increasingly unreliable. After a year has passed we do not know if people are still living at the address at which they are registered.

‘In the absence of a system to monitor the movements of all individual citizens, the only way to maintain an accurate register is to make the voter responsible for keeping their entry alive and up to date. That is why we have the annual canvass giving every household the opportunity to confirm details for the register and secure the right to vote.’

Residents cannot stand or vote in this year’s House of Keys general election or local authority elections unless they are on the electoral register. A number of local commissioners had to quit their positions last year as it came to light they weren't on the electoral role.

The electoral register is also updated on a quarterly basis giving residents the opportunity to join the register throughout the year.

Local authority elections take place across the Island on 28th April. The last opportunity to register in order to vote or stand as a candidate is on 18th March.

The House of Keys general election is on 22nd September. The last opportunity to register in order to stand as a candidate is 17th June, and the last opportunity to register in order to vote is 1st September.