How do I register to vote in the 2024 UK election?
- Published
How do I register to vote?
The UK will hold a general election on 4 July. All eligible voters need to make sure they are registered to vote and Tuesday 18 June was the last day to register.
Here's what you need to know about how and when you register to vote.
The deadline to register to vote was 23:59 on Tuesday 18 June
Registering only takes around five minutes if you do it online. It’s the same process whether you plan to vote in person at a polling station, by post, or through a proxy voter.
Go to the gov.uk website and fill out the form. You'll need your National Insurance number or another form of ID, and current address details to hand.
Students can be registered at both their home and term-time addresses, but can only vote in one place. Voting more than once in a general election is a criminal offence.
Check you are old enough to register or vote
In England and Northern Ireland, you can register to vote when you’re 16. In Scotland and Wales you can register to vote from 14, but in all cases you have to be 18 to actually vote in a general election.
Some people are legally excluded from voting - this includes most convicted prisoners serving a sentence, or peers in the House of Lords.
Even if you’ve voted before, you might need to register again
If you’ve moved address, changed your nationality, or changed your name for any reason, you will need to register to vote again.
You can register to vote if you’re from another country
You can vote if you are a British, Irish or a qualifying Commonwealth citizen.
Some European citizens can also register to vote but cannot vote in general elections, only local elections.
People living abroad can register as an overseas voter
If you’re a British citizen abroad, you can register using the same online form but be ready to give extra information about where and when you last lived in the UK and your passport details.
You can also register as an overseas voter if you’re an Irish citizen voting in the Northern Irish elections. However, voting in Northern Ireland from abroad will mean using a form which you can email to the Northern Ireland electoral office.
You don’t have to vote in person
If you can’t get to a polling station on 4 July or you don’t want to, you can register for a postal vote or a proxy vote. But you must register to vote first, before the deadline on Tuesday 18 June.
A postal vote means you can send your vote in by post ahead of polling day, and a proxy vote means someone else votes for you on the day.
There are separate deadlines if you can’t vote in person on 4 July
If you want to vote by post, then you need to submit an application online or by post before 17:00 on Wednesday 19 June. You can find all the relevant details on the gov.uk website.
If you’d rather vote by proxy, you need to be registered for a proxy vote before 17:00 on Wednesday 26 June. The person voting for you must also already be registered to vote.
The deadline to apply for a postal or proxy vote in Northern Ireland has passed.
There’s also a deadline to apply for free voter ID
Remember, you’ll need to show photo ID when voting in person. So bring it with you to the polling station! You can use a passport, driving licence, or 20 other forms of ID to prove your identity.
If you want to apply for free voter ID, the deadline to apply for the Voter Authority Certificate is 17:00 on Wednesday 26 June.
Voters in Northern Ireland can use the Electoral Identity Card.
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