Residents who confirmed their voter details online, by phone or text have helped Dorset Council reduce costs.
It would have cost the council an extra £173,650* if these households had chosen to return their details by post.
Every year councils have to send a Household Enquiry Form to all properties in their area to find out who is eligible to vote. This is known as the annual canvass.
Each person who responds to the canvass by digital methods, rather than returning a paper form, saves their council an estimated £2.30 in postage and processing costs.
Thanks are due to around 75,500 people who have responded digitally to Dorset Council so far.
Prize offered to reduce paper forms
The council ran a competition earlier this summer to encourage residents to respond to the canvass digitally.
Residents who responded online, by phone or SMS text to the Household Enquiry Form before 12 August were automatically entered into a prize draw to win £1,000. The winner was Derek Downton from Weymouth.
“It’s quicker and more convenient to respond online”
Mr Downton said:
“I was delighted to be told I had won the prize draw.
“We were just about to go away so I chose to respond to the canvass online. I knew it was important to respond and I was logged onto my computer at the time.
“It was just quicker and more convenient for me to respond this way, rather than having to remember to put the form in the post.”
Chief Executive of Dorset Council and Returning Officer, Matt Prosser said:
“I’d like to congratulate Derek for winning the draw and thank those residents who chose to respond to the annual canvass digitally.
“They saved time and helped their council reduce costs, which can be focused on service delivery instead.
They also helped lower the carbon footprint of the canvass, benefiting the environment too!
“We need people to respond to the canvass so that we can compile an accurate electoral register.
“Nearly 80 per cent of Dorset households have already confirmed their details. If you haven’t responded to your Household Enquiry Form yet, please do it digitally!
Have you responded yet?
It is a legal requirement to respond to the Household Enquiry Form. Any resident aged 18 or over can do this on behalf of the whole household.
If you have your form and security codes to hand, go to www.householdresponse.com/dorset
Letters targeting households that haven’t yet responded to the canvass will land on doormats from 23 September 2019.
Find out more information about the annual canvass.
*Figure correct as of 19/09/19
