evidence: Source: Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland – Electoral Office for Northern Ireland [...] By law the register of electors is checked each year by sending a household enquiry form to every household in the council area. This is known as the annual canvass. The purpose of the canvass is to identify everyone who should be on the electoral register. This means identifying citizens who should be registered but are currently not, as well as identifying electors who are no longer at a property and should therefore be removed from the register. A revised version of the electoral register must be published by 1 December, following the conclusion of the annual canvass. [...] Electoral statistics usually refer to a 1 December reference date each year. Providing electoral statistics for this date allows for the completion of the annual canvass by electoral registration officers each autumn. The annual canvass helps to keep electoral registers as accurate and as complete as possible. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the UK government amended the final date for the 2020 registers to be published, extending it from 1 December 2020 to February 2021. This allows local authority staff more time to complete their canvassing and maintain the accuracy of their registers, in light of practical consequences such as redeployed resourcing and social distancing.