By law, we carry out an annual canvass of the borough every year between July and December.
We do this to find out who needs to be added or removed from the electoral register (for example, people who no longer live there or new occupants who need to register).
It is a legal requirement to provide the information requested. Please make sure that you respond to the email or paper form as soon as you can.
Respond
The easiest way to respond is online:
Respond to the annual canvass online
You'll need your two-part security code from your form or email.
If you're unable to respond online, you can complete the paper form and post it to Electoral Services, Elmbridge Borough Council, Civic Centre, High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9SD.
Annual canvass process
The canvass process starts with a data matching exercise between national data, held by the Department for Work and Pensions, and some local data.
Where the data matches
If your data matches and you have a valid email address, we will send you an email in August that requires a response.
Emails will be sent from elmbridge.electoral@notifications.service.gov.uk. If you want to check that the email is genuine, email contactus@elmbridge.gov.uk.
If your data matches and you don’t have a valid email address or you don’t reply to the email, we will send you a paper form in September. You only need to respond to this form if there are changes to be made.
No further communication will be sent after this.
Where there is no match or partial match
If there isn’t a data match, we will send you a paper form at the beginning of August. You must respond to this whether there are changes to make or not. If relevant, you will also need to tell us why a property has no eligible voters, for example, because the property is empty or is a second home.
You may receive a reminder by email if we do not receive a response.
Follow up visits
If you do not respond to the canvass form or an 'Invitation to Register', we have to send reminders and make follow up visits to your property. These visits take place between 1 October and 27 October 2025.
Council staff will be wearing council photo identification. To further check their identity, please contact customer services on 01372 474474.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to frequently asked questions on the annual canvass.
Do I need to respond?
Yes,all households must respond, even if there are no changes or no eligible voters. We only require one response per household and it only takes a few minutes to complete.
Did you receive a paper form?
If you've already completed and returned it, there’s no need to respond online. If not, please reply as soon as possible.
Why did I receive a reminder?
Your response and the reminder may have crossed paths. If you’ve already responded, no further action is required.
Is the online response secure?
Yes. You’ll need your postcode and the two-part security code from your email or letter to respond. The security codes are unique to your address.
Why did I receive the canvass email but not everyone in my household?
The online canvass email has been sent to all electors who have previously provided an email address to us. If other electors at your household would like to receive the email in future, please add it in your online response.
Who should be included?
Anyone aged 16 or over living at the address should be listed. Anyone added to the canvass response must also apply to register to vote individually. The fastest way to do this is online at GOV.UK: Register to vote.
Why am I unable to access the online form with the security codes provided?
The security codes need to be entered carefully. Please make sure there are no spaces before and after the security codes. The error message or locking up the household could be because too many attempts have been made in a short amount of time. If this error notification reappears, please allow some time and try again later.
Why did I receive an error message ‘This household has already responded’ on the online response?
This error message indicates that someone in your household has already responded. As we only need one response per household, no further action is required.
What should I do if there are people listed that do not live at my address?
If someone is no longer living at the address, their name should be clearly crossed through on the paper form. You may have already informed us but we need two pieces of evidence to show that someone is no longer living at that address.
Electoral register
A revised version of the electoral register will be published on 1 December 2025.
Registering to vote
A canvass response is not a registration form. Anyone added to these details on the canvass response will also need to register to vote.
You are not automatically registered just because you pay Council Tax.
Your personal information
For information on how we use your data, please read our privacy notice.