MORE than 105,000 people in Oxford have now signed up to vote on May 7.

But with just four days left until Monday’s deadline to register, there is still some way to go to match the number on the roll last year.

Anyone who does not join the register will not be able to cast a ballot in the General Election in May.

Last month the Oxford Mail launched its campaign to get more people signed up after it was revealed only 99,000 people in the city had done so.

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said the unpredictable outcome of this year’s vote meant it was important people registered and gave themselves the chance to have a say.

He said: “People’s votes really matter because it is a very close election. It is important people should take a view on whether they think the cuts over the past five years have been a good thing or not.

“It is an election about people’s futures and their children’s futures and their grandchildren’s futures.

“Everybody should be registered and they should check and make sure that they are registered.

“The council’s officers have done well getting people to register and we have really picked up in the estates.

“And a lot of people who have just moved into Oxford have registered.”

The deadline to register for a postal vote is on Tuesday and Mr Price said people should consider that option.

He said: “People might think they cannot vote if they are away on holiday or if they are working on the day of the election.

“Postal votes also give the option to help people who are perhaps elderly or disabled and may struggle to get to a polling station, which can be some distance away.”

The new system of registering to vote that was introduced last year has been blamed by some for the number in Oxford dropping from 111,863 in February 2014 to its current level.

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

But now everyone must register themselves either online or by contacting their city or district council directly.

City council deputy returning officer Martin John said: “We currently have 105,215 registered voters.

“This figure could go up or down as people either register in the city and are added or register elsewhere and are taken off their old Oxford address.”

Visit gov.uk to find out more about how to register

Your guide to all the candidates

The election will be contested by 44 candidates across the county.

BANBURY
Dickie Bird – UKIP
Roseanne Edwards – National Health Action Party
John Howson – Liberal Democrats
Ian Middleton – Green Party
Victoria Prentis – Conservative Party
Sean Woodcock – Labour Party

HENLEY
Sue Cooper – Liberal Democrats
John Howell – Conservative Party
Chris Jones – UKIP
Sam Juthani – Labour Party
Mark Stevenson – Green Party

OXFORD EAST
Chaka Artwell – Independent
Ann Duncan – Green Party
Mad Hatter – Monster Raving Loony Party
Ian MacDonald – UKIP
Melanie Magee – Conservative Party
James Morbin – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Alasdair Murray – Liberal Democrats
Kevin Parkin – Socialist Party of Great Britain
Andrew Smith – Labour Party

OXFORD WEST AND ABINGDON
Nicola Blackwood – Conservative Party
Sally Copley – Labour Party
Mike Foster – Socialist Party of Great Britain
Alan Harris – UKIP
Layla Moran – Liberal Democrats
Helen Salisbury – National Health Action Party
Larry Sanders – Green Party

WANTAGE
Alex Meredith – Liberal Democrats
Kate Prendergast – Green Party
Lee Upcraft – UKIP
Ed Vaizey – Conservative Party
Stephen Webb -–Labour Party

WITNEY
Colin Bex – Wessex Regionalists
David Cameron – Conservative Party
Duncan Enright – Labour Party
Andy Graham – Liberal Democrats
Nathan Handley – Independent
Deek Jackson – Land Party
Stuart Macdonald – Green Party
Clive Peedell – National Health Action Party
Vivien Saunders – Reduce VAT in Sport
Bobby Smith – Stop emotional child abuse, Vote Elmo
Simon Strutt – UKIP
Chris Tompson – Independent