Don’t lose your chance to vote in East Dunbartonshire

LETTERS are being sent out to 7,000 postal and proxy voters across the East Dunbartonshire Council area.

People are being asked to supply a new signature by Friday, September 13, to ensure they can continue to vote by post or proxy.

Postal voters are now required to provide a signature and date of birth when voting by post at an election or referendum.

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These are checked against the ones supplied in their application to ensure their vote isn’t being used by someone else. If the signature and date of birth don’t match then the vote isn’t counted.

As signatures can change over time, the Electoral Registration Officer is required by law to write to all voters whose postal or proxy votes are more than five years old to ask for a new signature. This year, Electoral Registration Officers are required to write to all absent voters whose signature would be more than five years old by January 31, 2015.

If a new signature is not supplied by Friday, September 13, then the voter will no longer be able to vote by post or proxy and will have to vote in person at the polling station unless they make a new application for a postal or proxy vote.

Any voter who has difficulty in providing a consistent signature, perhaps because of ill health or disability, should contact the Electoral Registration Office for advice.

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David Thomson, Electoral Registration Officer for the East Dunbartonshire Council area, said: “This write-out for new signatures is an important measure to make sure you don’t lose your vote just because your signature has changed over the years.

It will also help to keep your postal or proxy vote safe from fraud.

“I would urge anyone who receives a letter requesting a new signature to return the form to me by Friday, September 13, to keep your postal or proxy vote safe.”

For further info contact the Electoral Registration Office on 0800 980 0471.

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