All you need to know about voter registration, deadlines and eligibility
As the general election looms, so does the deadline for people to register to vote.
So here’s a guide to who can register and how.
– Who is eligible to register?
You can register to vote if you are aged 16 or over, or 14 or over in Scotland.
But you can only vote in a general election when you are 18 or over.
UK, Irish, EU or Commonwealth citizens with a permanent UK address are eligible to register.
– How do you register?
Read on...
People can register online which takes about five minutes.
You can also ask your local Electoral Registration Office to post you a form, which then needs to be completed and returned to the office.
People can vote anonymously if they believe having their name and address on the electoral register could affect their safety.
5 days to register to vote in time for #ge2019 pic.twitter.com/m06kTGWLFI
— Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) November 21, 2019
To do this, you complete an application form on the Electoral Commission website, provide evidence to support your registration, and return it to your local electoral registration office.
People who will be abroad on election day can apply to vote by proxy after they have registered. To do this, you will need to complete a form and send it back to your local Electoral Registration Office.
A proxy vote means you can ask anyone to vote for you as long as they’re registered to vote and it is for an election they are allowed to vote in.
– What is the deadline?
People have until 11.59pm on November 26 to register to vote in the general election.
If you want to apply to vote by post in England, Scotland or Wales, you need to register before 5pm on November 26 to receive a postal voting pack.
For the vote to be accepted and considered it must arrive at the Electoral Office in the UK by 10pm on December 12.
The deadline for people to register to vote anonymously is December 4.
You need to register before you can vote in the upcoming UK election. For more information on the different ways you can vote visit https://t.co/uLPSBt4jdQ https://t.co/F3l5RSU8yF #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/NhbnMz97rR
— GOV UK (@GOVUK) November 20, 2019
There’s already been a massive surge in people, especially young people, registering to vote. But with campaigns running to get more people registered, these numbers will rise. This could be very bad news for Boris Johnson because according to YouGov, “age seems to be the new dividing line in British politics”. And young people are much more likely to vote Labour.
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In an election as important as this one perhaps Labour should consider training up observers to oversee there are no irregularities at the polling stations. As it is postal voting could be a big problem for ballot stuffing with Peter Lilley’s company running things. (I remember this piece of trash singing about making things hard for single mothers at a Conservative Party Conference back in the 1990s.)
If ever they wanted to rig an election it’ll be this one, because they know if the Tories lose they’ll be kept out for a generation if not forever, while if Corbyn loses then it’s socialism that will be kept out for a generation if not forever.
Spot on analysis! It is indeed as you say, and as a new Labour member I would willingly take part in such an oversight, particularly as you have rightly pointed out, this is a game-changing election (or will be if we make it so).