Register To Vote

After weeks of speculation, a general election has been called for 12 December, pending scrutiny from the House of Lords and Royal Assent. This means it’s incredibly important that you are registered to vote ahead of the polling day.

Deadline for registering

To vote in the General Election on 12 December you need to register by midnight on Tuesday 26 November.

If you want to apply to vote by post, register before:

• 5pm on 26 November if you live in England, Scotland or Wales
• 5pm on 21 November if you live in Northern Ireland

You should register to vote as soon as possible. Registration is always open – just hit the button below to head to the gov.uk website. It takes literally five minutes but remember you’ll need your National Insurance number, date of birth and address to register!

Register to vote

Sounds great! Who can register to vote?

You can register to vote if you’re 18 years or older and:

• A UK or Irish citizen
• A qualifying Commonwealth citizen living in the UK
• A European Union citizen living in the UK

I’m an international student – can I vote in the general election?

The short answer is maybe.

If you’re a citizen from a qualifying Commonwealth country, you should be able to vote. You can see the list here. 

You may wish to first research whether voting in the UK would have any effect on your rights in your home country before registering to vote.

If you don’t live in either an EU or Commonwealth country, you will not be able to vote.

I’m an EU student – can I vote the general election?

If you're a citizen of Cyprus and Malta (who retain the right to vote in UK elections through being a member of the Commonwealth) or Ireland, then yes you can.

As mentioned above, you may wish to first research whether voting in the UK would have any effect on your rights in your home country before registering to vote.

If you're a citizen of any other EU country, you cannot vote in the general election.

I’m a home student – can I register in more than one place?

Yes, you can! As a student, you can register to vote at both your term time address, and your home address. You can only vote once though, so you might want to think about where your vote will be most valuable. It is a criminal offence to vote in both.

You can register for a postal or proxy vote if you will not be in the area you wish to vote in when polling takes place on 12 December.