WITH less than nine months until the general election, the district council is trying to make sure that everyone who is eligible to vote will be able to.

Constituency boundaries have shifted since the last general election in 2005, and some residents are going to find that the constituency they live in has changed.

Every household in the district is about to receive an annual canvass form which will allow the council to draw up the electoral register for the next election.

Epping Forest registration officer Ian Willett said that at the last general election some 18-year-olds found they could not vote because they had not thought to fill in the previous form when they were 17, and he warned this year’s crop of 16 and 17-year-olds not to make the same mistake.

He added: “It’s simple to register, all you have to do is complete the annual canvass form and you’ll be able to help choose the people that make the decisions which effect your everyday life.”