He?s only had his feet under his City Hall desk for a month. But new Hamilton Mayor Jay Bluck has already started trying to boost voter turnout ahead of the next election.

An advertisement was placed in yesterday?s urging those currently frozen out of the democratic process to have their say.

And hundreds of letters explaining how to sign up will be posted to potential voters across Hamilton, as part of a double-pronged attack to bump up ballot box numbers.

?We want to follow up on campaign promises and increase the number of voters in the city,? said Mr. Bluck, who pledged to carry out a registration drive in the run-up to April?s election.

?We want to make sure everyone is aware.?

He said an outdated list of eligible voters meant it was almost impossible to gauge the total number of unregistered people.

Some 300 letters will be posted out to residents and business owners whom the Corporation of Hamilton thinks might be eligible, based on records available.

Lack of information about what properties are occupied in the city is not helping the campaign to find new voters.

And the Mayor said the Corporation had to accept some responsibility for the registration dilemma. He added: ?We have not followed up for a number of years and made sure the registry is updated.?

He said it was ?very important? that as many people as possible had their say in future polls.

?You can?t force people to vote, but under the current rules and regulations once they are registered, they can run for office and take part in city government.?

Officials confirmed that 387 people were registered to vote at last month?s election. Like previous recent polls, this was marred by a poor turnout. Just 231 people voted ? and with the Mayor in charge of a $20 million budget, this worked out at more than $86,500 per vote.

Pre-poll fears that a fraction of those eligible to register would have their say proved founded. Officials estimated that a total of more than 1,000 people might have been permitted to vote, if everyone eligible had registered.

On polling night, defeated mayoral candidate Sonia Grant called on the new leadership to urgently undertake a mass registration of voters.

That came after she revealed that up to 50 potentially eligible voters were turned away from the polling station during the course of yesterday ? because they were not on the list.

@EDITRULE:Yesterday?s advertisement urged residents who live, own property or operate a business in the City of Hamilton, and who meet registration requirements, to sign up. Forms are available at the City Hall, or by contacting Corporation Secretary Kelly Miller on 292-1234.