Electoral Register

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For information on how to register to vote or to find out if you are listed on the Northern Ireland Electoral Register please visit the Registration page. You can download a registration form from the Forms and Leaflets page or contact us and we will post one out to you.

The Electoral Office maintains two versions of the Electoral Register - the full Register and the edited Register. A new register is published on 1 December each year and a revised version is normally published before an election.

The Full Register

The full Register lists the names and addresses of everyone entitled to vote. Only certain people and organisations may obtain copies of the full Register and they may only use it for specified purposes. These include:

electoral purposes
crime prevention and detection
checking credit applications

The law specifies who may obtain a copy of the full Register and for what purpose it may be used (The Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008). It is a criminal offence for it to be passed on to anyone else or be used for any unauthorised purpose. The penalty is a fine of up to level 5 (Currently £5,000).

Issue of the Full Register Free of Charge on Publication

The following automatically receive a copy of the full Register when it is published:

The British Library
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
The Electoral Commission
The Boundary Commission

Issue of the Full Register Free of Charge upon Request

The following are entitled to receive a copy of the full Register free of charge upon request:

Elected representatives (MPs, MEPs, MLAs and Councillors)
Holders of relevant elective offices and candidates
Local constituency parties
Registered political parties
Candidates at elections
Police forces

Sale of the Full Register

The following are entitled to purchase the full Register:

Government Departments (for the purposes of crime prevention or vetting of employees)
Credit Reference Agencies (for checking credit applications and complying with money laundering regulations)

The cost of the Register is calculated as follows:

on CD-ROM - £20 fee plus £1.50 per 1,000 entries (or remaining part of 1,000 entries)
in printed form - £10 fee plus £5 per 1,000 entries (or remaining part of 1,000 entries)

Criteria for full Register Requests

Requests for a full Register must be made in writing and should:

specify for which area(s) the Register is required and if any other documents (overseas elector lists, monthly revisions) are also required;
specify whether only the current version is required or if subsequent versions will also be required (does not apply to candidates);
specify whether the documents are to be supplied in paper format or on CD-ROM (the Register will automatically be issued on CD- ROM if it is not requested on paper).

The Register may be purchased from Headquarters (for the whole of Northern Ireland) or Area Electoral Offices (for the area covered by that office). See the Contact Us page for contact details and a list of areas covered by each office.

Inspection of the Full Register in Person

Only the current Register is available for public inspection. The full Register for the whole of Northern Ireland may be inspected at the Belfast Area Office. All other Area Offices hold the full Register for the area covered by that office.

Inspection of the full Register is carried out under supervision. A person inspecting the full register may not make copies of any part of it or record any information contained in it except by hand-written notes.

Copies of the full Register for the last 15 years are held at Area Offices for the purpose of checking overseas elector registration applications. If a person requires confirmation that they were listed on one of these registers a Certificate of Registration may be issued by the Area Office.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) holds registers dated prior to this which are available for public inspection. The British Library in London holds copies of all UK electoral registers and these are also available for public inspection.

The Edited Register

The edited Register leaves out the names and addresses of people who have asked to be excluded from that version of the Register (i.e. ticked the relevant box on the registration form).

Sale of the Edited Register

The edited Register is available for sale to any person or organisation for any purpose, including commercial purposes. It may be purchased from Headquarters (for the whole of Northern Ireland) or Area Electoral Offices (for the area covered by that office). See the Contact Us page for contact details and a list of areas covered by each office.

Inspection of the Edited Register in Person

Only the current Register is available for public inspection. The edited Register for the whole of Northern Ireland may be inspected at the Belfast Area Office. All other Area Offices hold the edited Register for the area covered by that office.

Persons inspecting the edited register may copy it in any way they wish. Inspection of the edited register is not supervised.

Edited registers are destroyed once a new version is published.

The Marked Register

The marked register is the polling station register on which a mark has been placed against the name of every person to whom a ballot paper was issued.

Supply of the Marked Register

A copy of the marked register may be supplied free of charge only to police forces and other law enforcement agencies and then only if they have previously inspected the marked register. No other person or organisation is entitled to be supplied with a free copy of the marked register.

Sale of the Marked Register

Any person entitled to be supplied with a copy of the full register (see above) may buy a copy of the marked register or any part of it to which they were, at the date of the relevant election, entitled to be supplied or to buy a copy of the full register.

The fee payable is the same as the fee for a copy of the full register. No other person or organisation is entitled to buy a copy of the marked register or any part of it.

Anyone wishing to purchase a copy of the marked register must complete a form provided by the Information Officer info@eoni.org.uk and must specify:

which of the marked registers is requested;
whether a printed or data copy is requested;
the purpose for which the register will be used; and
why the supply of a copy of the full register would not be sufficient to achieve that purpose.

Any purchased copies of the marked register can only be used for the same purpose for which the full register would be used by the recipient, or for research or electoral purposes. Any free copies provided to police forces and other law enforcement agencies can only be used for the purpose of the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the criminal law. The restrictions on use of the full register apply equally to the marked register.

Inspection of the Marked Register in Person

Any person may make a request to the Chief Electoral Officer to inspect a copy of the marked register. The request must be made in writing and must specify:

the documents to be inspected;
the purposes for which the information will be used;
the reason why inspection of the full register would not meet the needs of the requestor;
the name of the person who will make the inspection;
the date on which they wish to make the inspection; and
whether they would prefer to inspect a copy of the marked register in printed or data form.

Inspection of the marked Register is carried out under supervision. A person inspecting the marked register may not make copies of any part of it or record any information contained in it except by hand-written notes.