To vote in a general election your name must be on the electoral register.
If you are not on it already, you cannot vote in the forthcoming election. You can check with your local council whether you are registered.
A new version of the register (also known as the electoral roll) is published once a year. It is compiled by the Electoral Registration Officer in your area – usually a local council official – who sends a form to each household every autumn.
The register is also updated every month to reflect recent changes. This "rolling" register enables people to vote even if an election is called shortly after they have moved to the area.
Newcomers should receive a form to complete, but you can also collect them from local election offices or download them from the Electoral Commission's website.
Councils keep a full register, on which details of all electors have to be recorded, and which anyone can ask to view. But electors can opt out of the edited version, which can be purchased by companies or organisations, often for marketing purposes.
|
|
 Details for the register come from an annual survey of electors
 A rolling register means newcomers can be quickly added to the list |
~RS~a~RS~international~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~39~RS~)
