Highlands and Islands Labour MSPs, Rhoda Grant and David Stewart, have joined the calls for people throughout the Highlands and Islands to make sure they are registered to vote in the Scottish Parliament elections which will take place on Thursday 5 May.
The switch to the Individual Electoral Registration (IER) system in Scotland has seen an estimated 800,000 names dropping off the electoral roll – which is the first time since 2009 the electoral roll has decreased.
Previously, one person in every household was responsible for registering everyone else who lives at that address. Under individual electoral registration, each person is now required to register to vote individually, rather than by household.
New figures show the number of registered voters in the Western Isles has fallen by 734 after the new registration system was introduced, with some people possibly not realising they will be unable to vote because of the changes to the process which makes it each person’s responsibility to sign themselves up.
Rhoda Grant said “One of the great benefits of living in a democracy is that everyone has the right to vote. In this election, as with in the independence referendum in 2014, 16 and 17 years olds will also have their say.”
David Stewart said “I would encourage everyone to check they are registered. The election in May will decide who will form Scotland’s next Government and what priorities we should have as a country.”
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