Find out more about the annual canvass, how we'll contact you, and how you can respond.
The annual canvass is our yearly review of the electoral register. We need to update the electoral register every year to confirm who is eligible to vote.
We contact all households in the city by letter or email. We start sending letters and emails from June, but you might not hear from us until November.
You need to let us know about any new residents at your property. In addition to responding to the annual canvass, new residents will also need to register to vote, so we can add them to the register.
You can register to vote online, or use the forms that we'll send out to you once you’ve responded to the annual canvass.
We send 4 different types of canvass correspondence:
We send CCB forms to some properties in August. You must respond to this form regardless of whether the details listed are correct.
We send Canvass forms in September to properties that do not respond to the CCB form. You must respond to this form regardless of whether the details listed are correct.
We send CCA forms in November to properties that did not receive a CCB or Canvass form. You only need to respond to this form if any of the details are incorrect.
We send emails throughout the canvass period (September to November) to people we hold email addresses for. You need to respond to these emails. If we don't get a response, we will send you reminder emails and paper forms.
We'll send our emails from 'brighton.hove.electoral.services@notifications.service.gov.uk'.
The email will direct you to respond on our household response website.
You may receive an email or letter indicating that your postal vote is expiring. Postal votes for UK residents expire every 2 to 3 years.
Respond to us online if you can. This is the quickest and easiest way to respond and saves the council money that we can use on other vital services. You will need to enter the security codes that we give you in your letter or email.
Respond to the annual canvass online.
You can make the required changes on your form and post it back to us. Our address is Electoral Services, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, BN3 3BQ.
Every household is legally required to check that the electoral register details we hold are correct and let us know if there are any changes.
Properties that have only received a CCA form only need to respond if there are changes to their household’s electoral register details.
If we don't receive a response from you, we'll make every attempt to contact you to remind you to respond. These reminders may come by post, email or as a visit to your property. If necessary, we will keep contacting households until we publish the revised register.
If you don’t respond, we may remove your name from the electoral register. This will mean you cannot vote, and it will affect your credit score. You may also be liable for a fine.