The Council and democracy Have we contacted you?

The annual canvass

Household visits by Council Inspectors

If we haven't had a response to either the Household Enquiry Form or an Invitation to Register, Council Inspectors will call at your home. These visits will be in  November, and the purpose is to help householders to complete their forms. 

All Council Inspectors will carry a photo ID card, which they will show when they are explaining the reason for their visit.   

If you have any queries or want any further information about the Canvass or these visits, call our helpline on 0161 234 1212.

Every year, we canvass every household in Manchester to ensure that the electoral register is as accurate as possible. The information we receive is used to update the electoral register. 

If you have received a form or a letter from us

From 24 September 2024, we will be contacting households in a number of ways:

• Email - if we have the email address for a voter, we will send an email to a member of that household. You will need to respond to this online following the guidance provided in the email.
  • Find out how to respond to the email
• Confirmation letter - when we think we know who lives at an address already, we will send that household a confirmation letter confirming what details we have. We do not require a response to this letter, unless a change is required such as adding or removing a name.
  • Find out how to respond to the confirmation letter
• Canvass form - When we are not sure who should be registered to vote at an address we will send a canvass form to that household. You should respont to this, regardless of whether changes to details need to be made or not. If we do not receive a response, then we will send out a reminder form.  If a response is not received from the reminder letter, a canvass inspector will call to the property to confirm the information required. Responding promptly to this form saves the council money.
  • Find out how to respond to the canvass form

Every property is legally required to check that the information on the correspondence is correct and let us know if there are any changes. If you do not, you may get a fine.  

Remember to include details of any 16 and 17 year olds. 

Please respond to the email or return the form straight away as this will reduce the need for printing statutory reminder forms.