You’ve registered to vote

So you know a new system of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) came into force (10 June 2014) and that each person is now responsible for registering themselves to vote, rather than the old system where the head of household registered everyone. This will no doubt change the registered number for the region.

There are key reasons why the registered numbers of electors in an area can change from year to year - a change in the size of the population who are entitled to vote; due to migration. A change in the proportion of the eligible population who actually register to vote; for example, more people registering as a result of better canvassing. Differences in administrative practices; such as, the extent of use of the ‘carry forward’, which allows for an elector to be retained on the electoral register for a year when they have not responded to an annual canvass

What’s the current picture?

The total local government electorate fell in 289 local government areas (77%) between 2013 and 2014, compared to 183 areas (49%) in the previous year. Of those, 51 areas had a fall of more than 4%, including 2 which fell by more than 10%.

Although IER does not change who is eligible to vote, it may have changed the proportion of those eligible that are registered to vote. It will be interesting to see how the new online registration will affect the voting turnout?

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/electoral-statistics-for-engl... Data Sources - Office for National Statistics

If you want to get a picture of activity closer to home the South Cambridgeshire District Electorate data set provides an overview of the local electorate statistics for this election. http://datashare/View/district-demography/district-electorate?preview=true

You’ve registered so where’s your local polling station this year

The South Cambridgeshire District Electorate data set includes a mapped list of polling stations by ward.

http://datashare/View/district-demography/district-electorate?preview=true

A new interactive polling station map has been launched allowing South Cambridgeshire voters to check online where they can cast their vote on May 7. https://www.scambs.gov.uk/content/find-your-polling-station

By putting their post code into the map on South Cambs District Council's website, voters will be able to see the address and location of their polling station, plus which elections are being held in their village.

Election infographics are also available for the first time, showing which candidates are standing in the parliamentary and district council elections, as well as the results for the last time each seat was contested.

As well as voting for MPs in the South Cambridgeshire and South East Cambridgeshire constituencies, local elections are being held in 19 district council wards and for four parish councils.

So turn out, make a difference in Cambridgeshire, be a number, be a statistic!

Jo Brooks

South Cambridgeshire District Council

To find more open data on South Cambridgeshire, please visit:http://opendata.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/dataset?f[0]=author%3A580