Votes are power

What is the electoral register?

The electoral register is the list of everyone who is registered to vote. You need to be on the register to vote at elections. You must register every year as you are not registered automatically.

Who can register to vote?

• Anyone 16 or over (but you cannot vote until your 18^th birthday).
• British or Commonwealth citizens.
• Citizens of the Irish Republic or other European Union (EU) countries.

Citizens of EU countries other than the UK or Irish Republic cannot vote in Westminster parliamentary elections, and must fill in a separate registration form to vote in European parliamentary elections.

How do I register?

Every year, between late-August and October, an annual canvass form is delivered to your home. By law, you need to fill in this form to vote in elections.

If you move or your details change, you can register at your new address at any time of the year by filling in a voter registration form. Once you’ve filled in your form, you need to return it to your local electoral registration office.

In England and Wales, the electoral registration office will be at your local council. You can find the phone number and address at your council. Enter your postcode into the box and select the link to contacting your council.

Click on the link for the names and addresses of all the electoral registration officers in Scotland. A different registration system applies in Northern Ireland. For details contact the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland on 02890 314242. 

Register as soon as you can. It may be too late once an election has been announced as it can take up to seven weeks to add your details.

What if I live away from home?

If you’re a student living away from home, you can register to vote at more than one address. So you can be registered where you live at home and at your term-time address.

This means you can take part in local elections at both your home and term-time address. But you can only vote once in any single election. So you can’t vote twice in a general election or European parliamentary election.

Example: if your home is in London, but you are studying in Leeds, you can register at both addresses and vote in both the London elections and Leeds local elections on 10 June 2004. As they take place on the same day, you may want to apply for a postal vote.

What if I haven’t received an annual canvass form?

You should contact your local council and ask for the electoral services department who will tell you what to do. You can find the phone number and address at your council . Enter your postcode into the box and select the link to contacting your council.

Remember, you may not receive an annual canvass form if you have recently moved or if you are living away from home. If this is the case, download a voter registration form here, fill it in and send it to your electoral registration office.

If I’m on the electoral register, will other organisations be able to get hold of my details?

Until 2002, anyone could buy a copy of the register to use for any purpose. But the law was changed to give you some choice about who can buy details of your name and address.

There are now two versions of the electoral register: the full version and the edited version.

The full version is used for electoral purposes, checking applications for credit and law enforcement. It will not be used by council tax or housing benefit offices.

The edited version is available for general sale and can be used for commercial activities such as marketing. You can choose to ‘opt-out’ of the edited version, which anyone can buy.

What if I don’t want commercial organisations to buy the information that I provide?

On your registration form, there is a box you can tick to ‘opt-out’ of the edited version of the electoral register, which any person, company or organisation can buy. Your details will still be available to credit reference agencies, so it will not prevent you from being able to obtain loans and other credit.