Renewing the Electoral Roll 2019
Every six years each parish is required to prepare a new electoral roll.
A notice should be displayed on or near the main door of every Church of England church in the parish. This needs to be done at least two months before the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and has to stay up for at least 14 days. Once the notice is up, the preparation of the new electoral roll begins. During the 14 days while the notice is up, whoever is conducting services at the church needs to announce to the congregation that the new roll is being prepared.
The PCC needs to ensure that reasonable efforts are made to let everyone on the old electoral roll know that a new one is being prepared. These steps do not have to be taken for anyone who is no longer qualified to be on the roll, i.e. anyone who has become a clerk in Holy Orders or anyone living outside the parish who no longer worships regularly in the parish.
During the period of preparation of the roll, members on the previous roll need to apply to be included – inclusion is not automatic. New people can also apply during this period. A person applies by filling out an application for enrolment form. The preparation of the roll needs to be completed by 17th March 2019.
As with the annual revision, once the roll is complete a copy needs to be put up on or near the main door of the parish church, for at least 14 days before the APCM. During this time corrections may be made to the entries on the roll, for example how a name is spelt or amending the details of an address. No names can be added or removed during this period, this can only happen after the APCM.
