Liveaboard boaters without a fixed address can register to vote by declaring a local connection. The form to use has changed and requires more information such as your date of birth and National Insurance number. This change has been made because of the move to individual voter registration, rather than household registration. Boat dwellers with no fixed address have always needed to register individually so the change is not so great for us.
Liveaboard boaters have the right to vote even though we may not have a fixed address. There will be European Parliament elections on May 22nd this year. If you fill in and send back the electoral registration form before the deadline of May 6th 2014, you will be added to the electoral roll in time to vote. You can download the registration form here.
If you want to vote in the local council elections on May 2nd, you need to get your registration form to the relevant electoral registration office by next Wednesday April 17th. Boaters have delivered voter registration forms to boats on most stretches of the canal between Bath and Newbury. Forms have also been left at the Barge Inn, Honey Street and the Bridge Inn, Horton Bridge, for boaters to collect.
The K&A boaters action group has a big pile of voter registration forms that we would like to deliver to as many boats as we can this week, starting tomorrow (Monday 18th March). We need some help doing this!! If you can cycle along a stretch of towpath delivering these forms, please ring/text 07928 078208 or email info@boatingcommunity.org.uk
Something that us boaters may or may not be aware of is that we still have the right to vote even though we don’t have a fixed address. There will be local elections for Wiltshire Council (and other Councils) on May 2nd this year, and our votes could make the difference between continuing Wiltshire’s support for liveaboard boaters or not. If you fill in and send back the electoral registration form before April 17th 2013, you will be added to the electoral roll in time to vote. Here is the form boater_electoral_registration