Your vote still matters. Don’t lose it.

Orkney’s electors may have already voted twice this year, but they are now being asked to complete their annual Electoral Registration Household Enquiry form, which has been delivered in the past few days.

The local Registration Office is encouraging everyone to make sure their details are correct. Even if there are no changes to the household, this needs to be confirmed.

The electoral registration officer for Orkney and Shetland, Dennis Stevenson said:  “It is important that householders read this letter and confirm that the details are correct, or make any changes.

“Even though you may have only recently voted, it is a legal requirement to respond to this form and provide the information requested. In the run up to both the Scottish Parliamentary Election and the EU Referendum earlier this year many of the electors who added or changed their details did so online and we would encourage all householders, where possible, to use this method rather than returning the form in the post. Of course you can instead still return the paper copy to us, if you prefer.

“Electoral registration is now a two stage process.  The householder is now required to give details of all the residents in the property, but any new electors in a property must also register individually to give the additional information that the process now requires.  Both of these stages can be done online using the details on the household form.”

It is important that a response is received for every property in Orkney, and owners of properties that are vacant or have no permanent residents must also confirm this.