Guidance on electoral registration form designs and letters. Part 1: Form designs. February 2014

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Guidance on electoral registration form designs and letters Part 1: Form designs February 2014 This guidance accompanies the template files for the new Individual Electoral Registration form designs

1 Guidance on electoral registration form designs and letters Part 1: Form designs February 2014 This guidance accompanies the template files for the new Individual Electoral Registration form designs which have been published on the Cabinet Office portal at: It should be read in conjunction with the Electoral Commission s guidance for EROs on Individual Electoral Registration, which sets out which forms to send, and when, and requirements for pre-printing information. The guidance is published on our website at: Part 2 of this guidance will cover the letters which will be used with these forms. This guidance sets out the different electoral registration form designs available, and how they should be used. We have marked up which parts of the forms must be used exactly as provided, and which can be customised. We strongly recommend that you read this guidance together with your printer or designer, and allow time to work through the technical instructions to ensure that you can put the files together in a way that works for you, including editing the HEF form. The Electoral Commission has a duty to design the forms to be used for individual electoral registration, including both Household Enquiry Forms (HEFs) and individual electoral registration forms. The form designs have been developed by experts in public information design. They have also been through a thorough process of consultation and testing, which has involved EROs, electoral administrators, software suppliers and printers, the general public, RNIB and other best practice and accessibility experts. These designs have been approved by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Cities and Constitution), the Rt Hon Greg Clark MP. 1

2 File format We have not specified which format or software should be used to create the finalised documents. In the interests of best practice and maximum accessibility for the voter, the templates have been designed in Adobe InDesign. This is the industry standard for professional graphic design. Your local authority's communications or marketing team, if you have one, will have access to this program; alternatively, any professional printer or graphic designer will be able to edit these files for you. They will also be able to process the files using the technical guidance in this document. In response to demand from stakeholders we have also provided the files in Word document format. However, Word is not a graphic design program and is not designed for this kind of advanced layout, therefore we strongly recommend you use the InDesign files where possible. We understand that you will need to liaise with your electoral management software supplier and/or printer in order to create the final documents you send out. With this in mind we are providing forms and letters as separate files so that you can combine them into the approved final layout in the way that works best for you. Please note, however, that where a form and letter are being sent together they must be presented in the approved format set out on page 6 of this guidance. We hope this guidance is helpful. We will keep it under review and will issue additional information if needed. If you have any questions on the forms or any aspect of this guidance, please contact your local Electoral Commission team. 2

3 List of templates and file references Shaded areas indicate form designs not included in the initial release of templates. Household Enquiry Form 2 colour Black and white 2 colour English Scotland Welsh English mono Scotland mono Welsh mono England ICR Blank HEF-B-E HEF-B-S HEF-B-W HEF-B-E-M HEF-B-S-M HEF-B-W-M HEF-B-E-I Pre-populated HEF-P-E HEF-P-S HEF-P-W HEF-P- E-M HEF-P-S-M HEF-P-W-M HEF-P-E-I Invitation to Register Basic ITR-E ITR-S ITR-W ITR- E-M ITR-S-M ITR-W-M ITR-E-I Change of Name form Filename conventions Forces ITR-F-E ITR-F-S ITR-F-W ITR-F-E-M ITR-F-S-M ITR-F-W-M Crown Servant ITR-C-E ITR-C-S ITR-C-W ITR-C-E-M ITR-C-S-M ITR-C-W-M Overseas Citizen No fixed address ITR-O-E ITR-O-S ITR-O-W ITR-O-E-M ITR-O-S-M ITR-O-W-M ITR-N-E ITR-N-S ITR-N-W ITR-N-E-M ITR-N-S-M ITR-N-W-M Anonymous ITR-A-E ITR-A-S ITR-A-W ITR-A-E-M ITR-A-S-M ITR-A-W-M CNF-E CNF-S CNF-W CNF-E-M CNF-S-M CNF-W-M Most of these files will be made available in two software formats. The ICR forms will only be available in InDesign format to ensure the accuracy of measurements. You can identify the file format from the file name suffix. Adobe InDesign: this is the recommended format for accurate and stable page design. Indesign files have the extension.indd (e.g. HEF-B-E.indd). 3

4 Microsoft Word: we have provided Word versions for local authorities who do not wish to use professional design or printing services. However, Word is not the best application for complex page formatting and we strongly recommend the InDesign versions are used where possible. Word files have the extension.doc (eg, HEF-B-E.doc). Variants for England, Wales and Scotland The form designs have minor variations reflecting different statutory requirements. Forms for use in England and Wales refer to the upper age limit of 70 for jury service, while those for use in Scotland omit this. It is a requirement of the Commission s Welsh Language Scheme to provide forms bilingually in Wales. In this instance, taking into account feedback from electoral administrators in Wales, the Commission has provided separate English and Welsh language form designs. They are separate form designs, which are not designed to be bound together. EROs in Wales must also have regard to the Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which require services in Wales to be delivered in the Welsh language. 4

5 Black and white form designs Colour vs black and white The use of colour differentiates the two forms (the HEF and registration application form). Colour also draws attention to the forms and can make them feel more accessible. We recommend that the colour version of the forms is used where possible. If you use these, you must not change the colours. This will ensure that the form colours are consistent wherever they are used and help with recognition of the forms. Colour also focuses the reader s attention on the places where they need to provide information, and is a standard design tool used to improve readability and legibility. There are black and white versions available which are suitable for local laser printing, or where budgets will not allow colour printing. If you wish to print in black and white you should use the black and white versions of the forms, as printing the colour versions in black and white will result in very poor quality printing. 5

6 Layout of the forms Front page Centre spread Back page Letter to be added here Statutory wording to be added here, together with other help information In the files supplied this page is blank. For the invitation to register you must add the letter here, using the approved versions to be published shortly. For the HEF you may want to use the suggested letter we will provide. The forms must be printed on A3 paper, folded to make an A4- size booklet. The wording of the form designs and the notes conform with legislative requirements. They have been tested with the public and also reflect feedback from electoral administrators and suppliers. EROs must, by law, use this form design and must not change it. A form to like effect cannot be used.. Information can be added locally where specified. The back page of all forms must include the statutory wording about the open register and a specified statement about data protection (see next page). You may also add any other supporting information you feel is useful. 6

7 Statutory wording about the open register: The open register There are two registers. Why? Using information received from the public, registration officers keep two registers the electoral register and the open register (also known as the edited register). The electoral register The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. The register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote. It is also used for other limited purposes specified in law, such as: detecting crime (e.g. fraud) calling people for jury service checking credit applications. The open registerthe open register is an extract of the electoral register, but is not used for elections. It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details.your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register does not affect your right to vote. You can find more information about both registers and how they may be used at Statutory wording about personal information: Your personal information We will only use the information you give us for electoral purposes. We will look after personal information securely and we will follow the Data Protection Act We will not give personal information about you and the other people in your household to anyone else or another organisation unless we have to by law. 7

8 Individual registration form Versions of the individual registration form ITR-E: for use in England and Wales ITR-S: for use in Scotland ITR-W: Welsh language version. The individual registration form must be pre-populated with the name and address of the individual if you have it. If not, this can be sent as a blank form. Forms for use in Scotland omit the reference to over 70 reflecting the difference in jury duty regulations. 8

9 Household Enquiry Form (HEF) :blank version Versions of the blank HEF (HEF-B) HEF-B-E: for use in England and Wales HEF-B-S: for use in Scotland HEF-B-W: Welsh language version. 9

10 Household Enquiry Form (HEF): Pre-populated version Versions of the pre-populated HEF (HEF-P) HEF-P-E: for use in England and Wales HEF-P-S: for use in Scotland HEF-P-W: Welsh language version. The instructional block at the top is editable to reflect local circumstances, such as the particular channels provided by individual EROs for responding to the HEF. There is space to over-print information about nine people on the centre spread pages of the form (pages 2 and 3). Information about residents for whom the ERO currently holds information must be printed first; the remaining space must be filled with blank spaces for details of new residents. Space must be provided as shown on the template form for all residents to provide their phone number and address it is optional for residents to provide this information, but mandatory for space to be provided on the form. Use a continuation sheet for properties where nine or more people are currently resident. Forms for use in Scotland omit the reference to over 70 reflecting the difference 10

11 in jury duty regulations. A 40mm margin is reserved at the foot of the page on the right, for bar codes to be added locally if required to support processing. 11

12 Customising the pre-populated HEF The main inside spreads of the ITR and HEF-B cannot be edited. The inside of the pre-populated HEF (with codes starting HEF-P) contains an editable area for you to add information on how to submit the form, and a large area for pre-printing information currently held about residents. The diagram below shows the editable parts of the form and instructions on how to add information, including the required font style and size. The parts highlighted in pink must be customised with your information. The parts highlighted in orange may optionally be customised. The parts highlighted in yellow must be pre-printed with the information you hold about residents. 12

13 The checking instructions (top of page 2) You may find it helpful to review this part of the guidance with a printer or designer, as it contains technical instructions for how to edit the form. This area is editable, for you to include information relevant to the response channels you are providing: e.g. website addresses, phone/text numbers, etc. Body text: Font: 10pt Arial; Leading 13pt; Space before 4pt; Space after 2pt. Subheads: Font: 12 pt Arial Bold; Leading 17pt; Space before 22pt; Space after 3pt. Note on type size for accessibility Some organisations specify a minimum 12pt type size, based on the RNIB See It Right standard. The standard actually specifies 2mm high for lower case letters, which corresponds to 12pt in certain type sizes. In the case of Arial, it corresponds to 10.5pt. We have rounded this down this to 10pt to enable the use of Microsoft Word. 13

14 The data area on the HEF-P (pages 2-3) The data area for existing residents details to be pre-printed can be edited. The form designs include a suggested approach to pre-printing, but EROs should agree with their supplier and printer how best to pre-print information based on their own specifications. Suggested approach and specification for pre-printing existing electors details Names: 2pt rule above, 4.5mm above type baseline Other info lines: 0.5pt rule above, 4.5mm above type baseline. This also applies to empty spaces for new residents. The character is the > from Zapf Dingbats font. You can also use the! character from Wingdings: Add anyone new bar: 11pt Arial bold and Regular, white, centred vertically on 20pt black bar. In the Welsh language version, the bar is 40pt deep: Scotland The 82mm tab ( Over 70? ) is omitted for forms used in Scotland. 14

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