Help and Information for users of the Online Canvass Communication
Your personal information
We will only use the information you give us for electoral purposes. We will look after personal information securely and we will follow the General Data Protection Regulation 2018. We will not give personal information about you and the other people in your household to anyone else or another organisation unless we have to by law.
Why do I need to provide information about my property?
In order to know who is eligible to register to vote, we need to know who lives at your address. An individual registration form will then be sent to all the people in your household who are eligible to register.
Who is eligible to register to vote?
Registration eligibility criteria are different depending on whether you live in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. For up to date information on who is eligible to register to vote, including eligible nationalities, please visit the Electoral Commission's website: Register to vote | Electoral Commission
I am having technical problems.
There may be a local connectivity problem - are you actually connected? Check if you can connect to www.google.co.uk or www.microsoft.com. Many problems are solved if you simply stop and restart your browser, or in more serious cases you may need to reboot your PC.
The online system won't accept my Security Codes or Postcode.
Make sure you are entering it correctly; there are 6 numeric digits for "Part One" and 8 numeric digits for "Part Two". These must be entered without spaces into the appropriate boxes.
The postcode entered must be the same as the one printed on your Canvass Communication. It can be entered with or without spaces in upper or lower case e.g. N8 0NW is the same as n80nw. Make sure you are not confusing 1 with I, or 0 with O. If there is no postcode printed on your form, please contact the local authority who has sent you the letter.
The online system says the online form for my property has already been completed.
If someone from the household has already provided details for your property either by phone, online or SMS, then the online system will prevent anyone else using the same Security Codes to log in. Perhaps a friend or relative may have already provided the details on your behalf?
I have to provide details for more than one property.
When you have completed each online Canvass Communication, the internet address from the form must be entered into your browser again. (You may be able to select the address from the drop-down box in your browser address bar.) Pages that your browser may have stored from previous sessions should not be re-used.
I encountered an error OR my internet connection was interrupted whilst trying to provide details for my property, has my response been recorded?
Try logging in again, if your response was recorded properly the online system won't let you in again; if it wasn't, the system will let you in.
I entered my email address but I have not received confirmation that my session is complete
The online system is configured to send confirmation emails in batches, rather than immediately. It may take several hours before a confirmation email is sent to you.
You may have entered an incorrect email address, or there may be other problems beyond our control, such as if your email provider is experiencing technical difficulties, or if you are using mail filtering software this may wrongly identify the confirmation email as unsolicited email or spam.
Note that the session may be complete even if the email confirmation fails to be delivered. Try logging in again, if the session was recorded properly the system won't let you in again; if it wasn't, the system will let you in.
I am a visually impaired or disabled internet user and require special software or tools to browse the internet. Is the website compatible with my system?
We have tested the website on a wide range of different browsers, and incorporated principles of accessibility into the website design wherever possible without compromising the required functionality and security. Thus we have tried to make the website as usable and accessible as possible, but please let us know if you encounter problems and we will investigate them.
How can I ensure that my personal details are kept secure while using this service?
Civica Election Services (CES) has physical security in our facilities to protect against the loss, theft, misuse, or alteration of information. There are also different layers of security implemented throughout our website platform, for example hardware and application firewalls; intrusion detection systems; and SSL encryption. You should also take the following steps yourself to further safeguard your personal data:
- Keep your Canvass Communication safe at least until you have registered - it has a Security Code printed on it which is used to enter the website.
- Don't leave your computer unattended when it is switched on.
- If you use a shared computer ensure that you close the browser after use
- Use anti-virus and firewall software to protect your computer, and be sure to keep your anti-virus software regularly updated.
- Don't open e-mail attachments or click links in email messages from people you don't know.
Technical support
For general queries about electoral registration or elections, please phone your local authority's helpline number on your Canvass Communication. If you are having difficulty using this page, please contact your Local Authority.