Make household canvass responses simpler, safer and easier to manage
Register Securely gives residents a clear way to confirm or update their household information, while helping electoral management teams receive structured responses that can be processed efficiently in Elector8.
Support routine no-change confirmations, detailed household amendments and new resident applications through a service designed specifically for the annual canvass.
A response service built around the work of electoral teams
The annual canvass is not simply a communication exercise. Every response has to be authenticated, understood and moved into the correct electoral registration process. Register Securely brings the resident journey and the administrative workflow together.
Straightforward responses can be completed quickly. Household changes are captured through guided steps. More significant amendments remain available for officer review. Full and partial applications are clearly separated, helping teams focus their time on the records that need further evidence, judgement or follow-up.
Reduce routine handling
Move common household confirmations into a secure self-service journey and reduce the need to receive, interpret and re-enter simple responses.
Improve the quality of changes
Guide residents to add, remove or amend people correctly, with prompts that help prevent duplicate or misleading records.
Capture fuller applications
Request date of birth and National Insurance number information from new residents, with secure routing into the appropriate Elector8 workflow.
Manage by exception
Allow routine information to flow through while surfacing significant amendments, failed access attempts and address queries for attention.
Give residents more ways to respond
Register Securely supports a multi-channel canvass response service, helping councils make it easier for residents to take action.
Online
The full online journey allows a resident to confirm the address, review the people listed at the property, report changes, add or remove residents, update relevant details, manage open register preferences and submit their declaration.
SMS
Residents can confirm that there are no changes by sending the required security information in the format shown on their canvass communication. The service provides clear success, retry and locked-account messages.
Telephone
An automated telephone route allows residents to confirm a no-change response using their security codes. Where changes are needed, the caller is directed to the online service or the appropriate alternative route.
This channel choice helps councils offer convenient self-service without trying to force complex household amendments through a response method that is not designed to capture them safely or accurately.
A clear online journey from authentication to confirmation
1. Secure log-in - the resident enters two security codes and their postcode.
2. Confirm the property - the resident confirms whether they live at the address and can report an address clarification separately.
3. Review the household - existing residents are displayed to an authorised respondent, with clear options to confirm or amend the details.
4. Make changes - residents can be added, edited or removed, with reasons and supporting information captured where relevant.
5. Confirm preferences and declaration - the respondent completes open register choices, confirms their authority where acting for another person and reviews a summary.
6. Submit and receive next steps - the resident can receive confirmation and is told when further evidence or registration action may be required.
Product Media
Designed to deal with real-world household changes
Register Securely supports the scenarios electoral teams encounter throughout the canvass, including:
· No changes to an occupied property.
· New residents moving into an address.
· Former residents who need to be removed.
· Changes to existing resident information.
· A resident reporting that they no longer live at the property.
· A manager responding for a care home or similar establishment.
· Address or postcode clarifications.
· Open register preference changes, including confirmation that a respondent can act on another person's behalf.
· New resident applications with complete or partial registration information.
The journey includes context-sensitive prompts to reduce common mistakes. A person changing a name is reminded to confirm that it is the same individual, rather than replacing one resident with another. A previous address lookup helps identify possible duplicates when a new resident is added.
Full and partial applications routed correctly
Councils can configure the online journey to request date of birth and National Insurance number information from a new resident.
Full application
Where both date of birth and National Insurance number are supplied, the new draft elector can bypass the Potential Elector and ITR chasing process and move into the Determination workflow in Elector8.
Partial application
Where either item is not supplied, the new draft elector is retained within the potential elector workflow so the appropriate invitation and follow-up activity can continue.
This gives electoral teams an immediate view of which applications are ready to progress and which still require further action.
Configuration that reflects your authority
The Register Securely administration portal gives councils control over the resident experience and the information returned to Elector8.
· Set the dates and times when the service is available.
· Apply the council logo and authority-specific welcome content.
· Edit explanatory labels and content shown during the response journey.
· Enable English and Welsh language journeys.
· Choose whether date of birth and National Insurance number fields are required, optional or hidden.
· Set confirmation email options.
· Control how removed residents and people under 16 are displayed.
· Adapt relevant fields to the requirements of England, Scotland or Wales.
Operational visibility throughout the canvass
Teams can monitor activity without waiting until the end of the process. The portal includes views and extracts covering:
· Overall response activity and the type of changes submitted.
· Full and partial applications.
· Mode of registration across online, telephone and SMS channels.
· Resident feedback.
· Log-in attempts and locked users.
· Address clarifications submitted by residents.
· Search tools for locating a response when further investigation is needed.
· CSV data and feedback extracts for local review and reporting.
This helps managers understand response patterns and deal with exceptions while the canvass is in progress.
Security built into every stage
Register Securely is designed to protect household and elector information while keeping the response journey practical for residents.
Multi-part authentication
Two randomly generated security codes are used with the property postcode to authenticate access.
Protected data in transit
Information is encrypted between the resident's device and the Register Securely server.
Locally controlled encryption
Sensitive information such as National Insurance numbers is encrypted on the server, with the local authority holding the decryption key.
Access lockouts
Repeated failed log-in attempts deactivate access until the account is released through the authorised process.
Privacy-led journeys
A former resident who states that they no longer live at the property is not shown the names of the current occupants.
Session protection
Cookies support a unique user session and help protect the service against cross-site request forgery attacks.
Active monitoring
The server is subject to threat monitoring and regular vulnerability scanning.
Controlled retention
The council can remove canvass data from the server when the annual canvass process is complete.
UK data centre
The Register Securely server is hosted within a secure data centre in the United Kingdom.
Data minimisation
Only the information needed for the authenticated household response process is held on the service.
Integrated with Elector8
Register Securely is part of the wider Elector8 canvass process. Responses are processed within the EMS, helping teams avoid disconnected forms and unnecessary re-keying.
Routine updates can be accepted as newer information, while changes to significant identity fields can be presented for manual review. Full and partial applications enter the appropriate workflow, and teams can continue to manage communications, evidence and determination from within Elector8.
The benefit for your team
Residents receive a convenient, secure way to respond. Electoral officers receive information that is structured around the decisions and workflows they need to manage.
Why electoral management teams choose Register Securely
· A purpose-built canvass response journey rather than a generic online form.
· Secure self-service that supports both routine confirmations and complex household changes.
· Clear separation between applications that are complete and those that need further work.
· Privacy controls that change according to the respondent's relationship with the property.
· Configuration options that allow the authority to shape content and data collection.
· Operational dashboards and extracts that make exceptions visible.
· Integration with Elector8 so responses become part of the electoral registration workflow.
See how Register Securely can simplify your next annual canvass
Book a demonstration to explore the resident journey, security controls, configuration options and Elector8 workflow integration with the Democracy Counts team.