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Cambridge City Council

The electoral register

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

The annual canvass takes place each year from late July to mid-November.

Before we start canvassing properties, we match the data held in the register against data held by the Department for Work and Pensions and other council departments to see who is still resident. 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. If you get a letter, you only need to respond if the information is incorrect. If you get an email or text, then you must respond so that we know there is still a link from that email or mobile number to your address.

We send a letter 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. If we have an email address or mobile number for these properties, we may send a reminder this way.

When we have contacted households, 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 you 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.

If we contact you by text, it will come from an account called ‘CamElection’ and the number will be hidden as it does not accept replies.

The electoral register

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

Both registers are held at our office in Mandela House, Regent Street and can be inspected by anyone. However, please do contact us to make an appointment to view either register, so that we can ensure someone is available to help you.

The full electoral register

The full register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote and for political parties to send you information before an election.

It also has other limited purposes such as preventing and detecting crime and checking credit and loan applications.

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.

For more information on purchasing the open register, please email elections@cambridge.gov.uk.

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.

Statistics

The current register of electors for Cambridge was published on 2 January 2024, with 89,328 electors registered to vote.

Electorate statistics 2014 to 2024
Publication date Full register electorate Open register electorate
17 February 2014 93,159 57,267
1 December 2014 91,232 49,890
1 December 2015 81,128 36,721
1 December 2016 87,084 34,706
1 March 2017 87,171 34,688
1 December 2017 90,826 34,086
1 December 2018 89,811 32,847
1 February 2020 95,017 32,602
1 June 2020 95,052 32,628
4 January 2021 91,807 31,322
1 December 2021 89,326 30,315
1 December 2022 89,265 29,895
2 January 2024 89,328 29,719

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Service related queries

For questions about a service we provide, please use our contact us form