About the Electoral Register
The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote. The Electoral Office maintains the full register and the edited/open register - information on both registers and how they may be used is available below along with information about the marked register and lists of postal and proxy voters (absent voter lists).
The full register is published annually. If an election is scheduled a revised version may be published.
The full register lists the names and addresses of everyone entitled to vote. Only certain people and organisations are entitled to obtain the full register for electoral, crime prevention and detection and credit scoring purposes.
It is a criminal offence for the full register to be passed on to anyone else or be used for an unauthorised purpose. The penalty is a fine of up to £5,000.
The edited register (also known as the 'open register') is published annually. If an election is scheduled a revised version may be published.
The edited register omits the names and addresses of people who have asked to be excluded by opting out when registering online via www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or on a paper form.
If your details are in the edited register they will be available to organisations for commercial purposes. You may receive more junk mail if your details are included in the edited register. The edited register is available for sale to any person or organisation for any purpose.
The marked register is the polling station register on which a mark has been placed against the name of every person who was issued with a ballot paper.
The marked register may be supplied free of charge to law enforcement agencies if they have previously inspected it. No other organisation is entitled to be supplied with a free copy of the marked register.
Some other organisations/people can buy a copy of the marked register (e.g. the Electoral Commission, elected representatives, candidates and government departments).
By law the Electoral Office must make available for public inspection the lists of permanent postal and proxy voters.
The Electoral Office is also required at election time, six days before polling day, to publish the lists of temporary postal and proxy voters.
The Electoral Office shall also, on request, supply each candidate or election agent at an election a copy of the permanent and temporary list of postal and proxy voters.
No other person or organisation is entitled to be supplied with a copy of any absent voters list.