Registering to vote: a quick guide

Neil Johnston

To vote in an election, a person must be on the electoral register. Once on the register they are called an ‘elector’. If they actually vote in an election they are called a ‘voter’. This quick guide gives information on how to register and who is eligible to register. There is also a brief explanation of the ‘full’ and ‘open’ registers.

Electoral registers

There is no single national register. Electoral registration officers compile local electoral registers.

In England and Wales this is a senior officer of the local council. In Scotland this is a Scottish Assessor appointed by a local council (except Dundee and Fife, which each have local registration officers). The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is the registration officer for the whole of Northern Ireland.

The full and open registers

There are two versions of each local electoral register: the full register and the open register.

Full register:

- Contains all registered electors in the area.

- There are strict rules governing access to the full register and how its data can be used. Breaches of the rules are a criminal offence. Certain organisations may receive or request copies of the full register. These include the Electoral Commission, political parties, and the Office of National Statistics. Anyone can inspect the full register under supervision.

Open register:

- Available to anyone on payment of a fee. It contains the entry of registered electors who have not opted out of the open register.

Opting out

People can opt out of the open register at any time (about 60% of those registered to vote have). A person will be notified at the time of registering about the opt-out option.

People cannot opt out of the full register. Electoral registration officers have a legal duty to compile and maintain a register of all eligible electors in their area.

A person can choose not to apply but they must respond to a communication from a registration officer.

There is no ‘right to be forgotten’ from electoral registers.

Those whose safety might be put at risk by appearing on the full register, such as survivors of domestic abuse, can register to vote anonymously. Anonymously registered voters are automatically opted-out of the open register.

There is more detail in the Library briefing, Electoral registers and access to them.

Who can register?

Eligibility to register is based on nationality, age and residence. People can be disqualified from registering to vote, for example prisoners.

The eligibility varies depending on the type of election (for example, local government elections or general elections).

Nationality

Eligibility varies by nationality and the type of election:

British citizens resident in the UK can register to vote for all elections.

British citizens living abroad who were previously resident in the UK can register to vote in UK Parliament elections.

Citizens of the Republic of Ireland are eligible to register for all elections in the UK, including UK Parliament elections, as long as they are resident.

Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are eligible to register for all elections in the UK, including UK Parliament elections, as long as they are resident.

Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are residents who have permission to enter or remain in the UK, or who do not require it.

EU citizens. Eligibility depends on where they are resident:

- In Scotland and Wales: all EU citizens legally resident there can register to vote in local council, Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru elections.

- In England and Northern Ireland: Some EU citizens can register to vote in local elections and elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Eligibility depends on when they arrived in the UK and their nationality. This is set out in detail on the Electoral Commission’s website under Qualifying European Union citizens.

Eligibility for citizens of other countries depends on where they live:

- In Scotland and Wales: all citizens who are resident in can register to vote in local council elections in Scotland and Wales and in Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru elections regardless of nationality.

- In England and Northern Ireland: no citizens are eligible to register to vote for any election regardless of how long they have lived in the UK.

The detail on why there are differences is explained in the Library briefing, Who can vote in UK elections?

Dual nationality

People with dual nationality will be eligible to register based on the nationality that gives them the higher level of eligibility. For example, a dual British-US citizen would be treated as a British citizen.

Hong Kongers

On 1 July 1997 Hong Kong ceased to be a British Overseas Territory, and its sovereignty was transferred to China. Former residents of Hong Kong are not automatically qualifying Commonwealth citizens.

Eligibility of Hong Kongers resident in the UK to register to vote will depend on the type of citizenship they hold post-1997. If they are legally resident in the UK and hold one of the following they are qualifying Commonwealth citizens and may register for all elections:

British National Overseas
British Overseas Citizen
British Overseas Territories Citizen

Dependents of British National Overseas citizens without a British-related nationality are not eligible.

Age

You must have reached voting age on polling day to be able to vote. Voting age is currently 18 for:

UK Parliament elections

Local council elections in England and Northern Ireland

All types of mayoral election in England

Northern Ireland Assembly elections

Police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales

The voting age is 16 for:

Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru elections

Local council elections in Scotland and Wales.

Residence

People must be resident at the address where they are registered. For most people (domestic electors) it is their normal home address.

Some voters cannot meet the usual residence requirement. In these cases, residence is ‘notional’. Examples are overseas voters, domestic voters who live in mobile residences, merchant seaman, and armed forces personnel (and their families) who are based overseas.

Who can vote in UK elections? explains issues relating to residence in more detail.

Holiday homes

People may be able to register at both their main home and holiday home if they spend roughly equal amounts of time at each property.

Those who visit a holiday home only a few weeks each year are unlikely to meet the residence requirement.

Residence is not defined in electoral law, and electoral registration officers will decide on a case-by-case basis.

Disqualifications

Some people are disqualified from registering to vote.

Members of the House of Lords are disqualified from registering for elections to the UK Parliament but may register to vote in other elections.

Most prisoners are disqualified.

People convicted of some electoral fraud offences can be banned from registering for three to five years depending on the offence.

How to register

Most people can register online using the Register to vote service, this includes overseas voters (British citizens living overseas).

Some special categories of voters can still apply online but should use the separate online forms:

Service voters (crown servants and their spouses, for example diplomats and British Council employees and their spouses).

Armed forces service voters.

People who want to register anonymously must use a paper form. This is for people concerned about their name and address appearing on the electoral register for safety reasons, for example people who have escaped domestic abuse and are living in refuges.

Applicants must provide their National Insurance (NI) number or explain why they do not have one. The number is used to verify identity and help prevent electoral fraud.

People without a NI number can still register through an exceptions process.

When to register

People can register at any time, although deadlines apply before elections.

Once registered a person will only need to re-register if their situation changes, for example they move house or change their name.

What happens to my information?

When people apply online their identity is checked. The NI number provided is checked with Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) data to confirm identity. The applicant’s personal information (name and address) is then sent to their local electoral registration officer. This includes confirmation that identity details match DWP data. The application is then processed locally.

Electoral registers in Great Britain are checked each summer to ensure they are up to date. This is called the annual canvass. If someone’s details are up-to-date they do not need to re-register.

Most councils have information about the annual canvass in the ‘Elections and voting’ section of their website, see for example Derby City Council – Annual Electoral Canvass.