ALL Bury voters can now make their mark without going to the polling station in a new move to beat election apathy.

With a General Election looming, changes in the law mean that everyone is entitled to a postal vote.

Until now, residents had to give special reasons why they should be allowed to have such a vote.

Town hall bosses are sending application forms to every home in the borough to make people aware of the changes, especially elderly and disabled people.

Mr Dennis Taylor, Bury Council's chief executive and returning officer, said new ideas were being tried to boost voter turnout which has been poor in recent elections.

"Last year, Bury pioneered the use of new technology when we were one of only a handful of local authorities in the country to use electronic voting," he said. "This allowed voters in Besses ward to make and have their votes counted by computer.

"The Government has now made changes to allow wider use of postal voting and this is again something that we are keen to follow up."

Mr Taylor reminded residents that their name must be on the electoral register to be entitled to vote, and there was still time to register.

"In the past it was only possible to be included once a year," he said. "However, a form of rolling registration has been introduced, which means that the register is updated every month.

"But with rumours of general elections currently in the air, it is imperative that you ensure you are registered. If not, act now."