The electoral register lists the name and address of everyone who is registered to vote.

Every year we carry out a canvass of all residential properties in the city. This is to check that the details we hold are correct, and to identify who is eligible to register to vote so that we can invite them to do so.

The annual canvass

In 2020, the way that we carry out the annual canvass changed. The law now allows us to match the register against data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. This means we only need to target households where we believe people have moved in or out.

We send a letter, email, or text to households we believe are the same as the previous year, saying they only need to respond if the information is incorrect.

We write to households we believe might have changed since last year and ask them to confirm who is resident at the address, whether the information is correct or not.

When we have contacted each household, our electoral canvassers visit those who were asked to respond but did not. If we hold a telephone number for somebody at the address, we might also try to telephone to establish who lives there.

If we contact you by email, it will come from a government email address – cambridge.electoral.services@notifications.service.gov.uk – not a Cambridge City Council email address.

The electoral register

There are two versions of the register: the full ‘electoral’ register and the ‘open’ register.

Both registers are held at the Guildhall and can be inspected by anyone. However, the Guildhall is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, so please contact us to make arrangements if you want to inspect the register.

The full electoral register

The full register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote, as well as other limited purposes such as preventing and detecting crime, and checking credit and loan applications.

• Guide to how the full and open registers are used [PDF, 74Kb]

The open register

The open register is an extract of the full register that can be bought by any person, company or organisation. Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed.

• Remove your details from the open electoral register
• Guide to how the full and open registers are used [PDF, 74Kb]

Objections

Entries on the register or applications for registration (except anonymous registrations) can be objected to by any elector who is registered in that area.

• Object to an entry on the electoral register

Statistics

The current register of electors for Cambridge was published on 1 December 2021, with 89,326 electors registered to vote.