Registering new address with Elections Office
I have moved since the last general elections and want to register my new address with the Elections Office. Having managed to find the correct form on the Elections Office website (which totally sucks and navigation is beyond rubbish), it says at the bottom, “Where the elector has changed his or her place of residence from one electoral district to another, a completed, signed and witnessed copy of this form must also be sent to the registering officer of the new electoral district.” Does that mean I have to go to the Elections Office with one copy and then go and find my registering officer? Why can’t the Elections Office do that, for crying out loud? Why do they make it so difficult?
Auntie’s answer: To make sure I understood your issue, I went to the Elections Office website. I came away very impressed with your fortitude in trying to navigate those muddy waters, but, no surprise, without a definite answer to any of your questions.
To give other readers an idea of the difficulties involved in trying to find any information on that site, let me share an example with you. I went to the FAQ page to find out about what to do if you change your address after registering. I found one “relevant” entry, which I have included in its entirety below (and this was after clicking through several links):
If I register once do I have to again?
No, but if you have a change of name, street address or occupation there are procedures to follow.
Now, by reading that you would most likely assume that the procedures would then be detailed or there would be a link to them. Oh, but you would be sadly mistaken. I could find nothing further under that entry. May I repeat for clarity? NOTHING.
But, I soldiered on, and found and clicked on this link for the change of address form. I admit to being confused about the correct way to fill out the application and then, to top things off, came to the bottom and found the note to which you referred about contacting the elections officer if you have moved districts.
I did manage to get a bit farther in the process than you, perhaps because I have too much time on my hands. After clicking through pages and pages of the FAQs, I came upon a question about registering officers and the answer actually contained a very useful link to the officer in each district, which I am including here.
I then called the Elections Office (949-8047) and the person who answered could not have been more helpful or pleasant. The good news is that despite the issues with the website, the process itself is very straightforward. Fill out Form 13 using your original address and electoral district at the top, and include the old and new ones where asked.
Then, all you have to do is bring the completed, signed and witnessed form to the Elections Office (if you can’t get a witness, someone at the office can do it if you provide proper ID), and a copy of that will be passed on for you to the registering officer for your new district, despite what it seems to imply on the form.
So, the short answer to your question is that the Elections Office is not making the process difficult, but whoever designed the website needs a stern talking to.
Category: Ask Auntie
