The countdown is on

With a UK Parliamentary general election to be called by 3 June, the New Year brings with it an exciting and challenging countdown in the electoral calendar.

Read our full feature here

Welcome!

Happy New Year and welcome to the register – your guide to all the latest Commission news, views and activities each quarter.

With a general election to take place by 3 June and the English local elections scheduled for 6 May, 2010 will be an important year for voters and all those involved in planning, running and campaigning in elections. We get your preparations countdown started in our main feature above.  More on our key news below.
 

We value your views. If you’ve got an opinion or would like to find out more about the features covered in this issue, email editor@electoralcommission.org.uk.

Election preparations

As the 2010 elections near, our focus falls on reminding people of the need to register to vote. We have published on our Do Politics Centre , registration campaign templates and guidance to help Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) ensure voters get registered ahead of the elections.

In early January we also distributed a circular (EC01/2010) to Returning Officers (ROs) and EROs) summarising our existing and upcoming guidance and how to access it.

This includes planning materials and contractor checklists for consideration when commissioning suppliers, for example when working with printers. It also covers our available guidance manuals for ROs in the local government elections and (Acting) ROs in the UK Parliamentary general election, as well as links to our polling station and count support products.

Access our alerts and circulars for regular updates on our support and guidance in the run up to the election

Individual electoral registration

In March we will set out the principles we think should underpin the move to individual electoral registration (IER), provided for by the Political Parties and Elections Act (PPEA) 2009. Our paper will explain what we intend to monitor and assess during the voluntary phase of IER and we will invite comments and views on our proposed approach.

Find out more about individual electoral registration and the PPEA here 

New Electoral Commissioner

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Tony Hobman as a new Electoral Commissioner.

Mr Hobman, who is Chief Executive of the Pensions Regulator, joined our current six-member board in January, replacing Karamjit Singh CBE who retired his month.

We thank Karamjit for all his work at the Commission and look forward to working with Mr Hobman, who will bring valuable experience to our regulatory work during this important time.
 

Find out more about our Commissioners here

Changes to the Boundary Committee for England

On 1 April 2010, responsibilities for setting local government boundaries will transfer from the Electoral Commission to the new Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

The new body, established by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, will retain the Boundary Committee for England’s independence from government. Like the Electoral Commission, it will report to the Speaker’s Committee in Parliament.

For more on the changes, visit our boundary reviews page

We're on Twitter

Always keen to explore different ways of talking with you, you can now find us on the micro-blogging service, Twitter.

We’ve been ‘tweeting’ on everything from new guidance for candidates and our report on allegations of electoral malpractice at the 2009 elections, to calls from our Chair, Jenny Watson, for electors to make sure they are registered to vote.

We have had a great response so far, with hundreds of visits to our website in the first few weeks alone.

Join the conversation, follow us at www.twitter.com/electoralcommUK

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