MORE than 2,500 people in Oxford have signed up to vote since February as a new drive is launched to get the public to the polling stations.

It comes after the Oxford Mail launched a campaign earlier this month to encourage people to use their vote in the General Election on May 7.

The total number of people in the city on the electoral register now stands at 104,000 – up from 101,225 in February.

But this is down by about 10,000 on the 2010 figure.

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Oxford City Council has now launched its own sign-up campaign, which will run until the registration deadline on April 20.

City council deputy returning officer Martin John said: “In February we sent household notification letters to more than 57,000 homes in Oxford.

“These letters gave people in those houses the opportunity to take people off the register who no longer lived there and tell us who should be on the register at each address.

“Do not assume you are on the register because you have been on it before.”

Council bosses said they would have spent about £20,000 to encourage people get on the register ahead of the deadline .

The money has come from a Government grant to help councils across the country sign up voters.

The drive comes after a new voter registration system was introduced last year, which meant everyone must sign up individually.

Under the old system, one person in a household could sign up everyone else who lived there.

Some politicians have said the change is to blame for the drop in numbers registered.

In February 2014, when the old system was still in place, there were 111,863 people on the roll in Oxford. By December that had dropped to 99,729.

In the May 2010 election, there were 111,195 people on the Oxford City rolls.

Mr John said: “We would never have run a campaign like this before because people knew how the system worked.

“There are other reminders coming such as people getting a polling card in the coming weeks.

“If they are not on the register, they will not receive one.”

At the end of last month, the city council wrote to about 8,000 students living in halls to encourage them to register before the end of term. And today students at Cheney School in Headington will hold a mock election.

It is hoped this will encourage pupils, some of whom are of voting age, to register for this election and city council elections in 2016.

Mr John said: “If you are not sure if you are registered ring us on 01865 249811 and check before April 20.”

  • We want to get views from people in the city as they choose who to vote for. To sign up for our voters’ panel email news@oxfordmail.co.uk