You can register to vote online.
This is the quickest and easiest way to register.
If you cannot register to vote online, complete a paper registration form and post it back to the Electoral Office (see the Contact Us page). The form can be downloaded from the Register to vote page.
You can check if you are registered to vote by using our Am I Registered service. Click on the button below
By law every person is required to register to vote if they:
- are aged 17 years of age or over by the next 30 November;
- live in Northern Ireland;
- are a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen, or an eligible European Union citizen (click here for information about eligibility); and
- are not subject to any legal incapacity e.g. convicted prisoners.
Note: eligibility to vote is different to eligibility to register, for example some European Union citizens cannot vote at United Kingdom Parliamentary elections.
Once you have successfully submitted your application, this will be sent to the Electoral Office. For your application to be successful, they must verify your identity and address. They will then contact you to confirm whether you have been registered to vote or whether you need to provide further information.
You will receive a letter confirming that your application has been successful and that your details will be included on the next update to the electoral register. If you registered to vote online that letter will contain your Digital Registration Number (see below). If the Electoral Office requires further information to verify your identity or address then they will either send you a letter or an email.
Your Digital Registration Number is a unique number issued to you by the Electoral Office when you first register successfully online. Your number will not change when you re-register.
You will be sent notification of your Digital Registration Number in the letter confirming that your registration has been successful. It is very important that you keep this number in a safe place as you will need it if you decide to apply for a postal or proxy vote at any time in the future. Your application for a postal or proxy vote will not be accepted without your number. The Digital Registration Number is used to check your identity when applying for a postal or proxy vote.
Check if you are registered and get your Digital Registration Number
A new register is published annually. Monthly updates are published on the first working day of each month.
The date your details appear on the register will depend on when your completed application is successfully submitted. The table below details the deadline for each register update.
If you have provided your name, address, date of birth and national insurance number - these will be matched against your records held at the Department for Work and Pensions and other data sources. If they match, the Electoral Office can be confident of your identity and address and unless there are any other concerns, your application to register to vote will be successful.
In either scenario, the Electoral Office must verify your identity by another method. This will be as follows:
Requesting documentary evidence
The Electoral Office will contact you, usually by post or email, asking you to provide documentary evidence to prove your identity or address. The full list of documents will be provided with the request but includes forms of ID such as a passport and driving license.
Requesting an attestation
If you are unable to provide any documentary evidence relating to your identity or address then please contact us. You will then be invited to submit an attestation. This is where you ask someone to sign a declaration confirming your identity.
Your application to register to vote will not be successful until you have provided the documentary evidence or attestation as required.
You must submit your registration application before midnight twelve working days before election day. If you submit your application after this point you will not be able to vote at the election.
You do not need to re-register for each election or referendum. If you receive a poll card for your address then you are currently registered and able to vote in the upcoming election or referendum.
You need to re-register if you move house, change your name or your nationality. You also have to re-register during a canvass.
British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen - you can vote at all elections.
Eligible European citizen (not British or Irish) - you can vote at Northern Ireland Assembly and Local Council elections. You cannot vote at UK Parliamentary elections.
Overseas Elector - you can vote at UK Parliamentary elections. You cannot vote at Northern Ireland Assembly or Local Council elections.
The poll card provides important information including the location of your polling station. You do not need it to vote.
Before each election, if you are on the electoral register, you will be sent a poll card approximately six weeks before the poll. If you do not receive a poll card then you may not be on the electoral register. You should use the Am I Registered service to check.
If you submit a registration application close to the deadline for an election, there is a chance that you will receive your poll card before you receive the letter or email confirming that your application was successful. The poll card also confirms that you are on the register for the forthcoming election.
You must complete a separate application to vote by post or proxy. This cannot be done online but must instead be completed by hand on a paper form as you may be required to provide an attestation as part of the application process. As part of the postal voting application process you will also be required to provide a signature which will be matched against the signature on the declaration of identity which will accompany your returned postal ballot paper.
If you registered to vote online, you will receive the link to download your application. If you have not received this within two weeks, then please contact us or download a form from the Voting by post or proxy page.
You need to complete the application and return it to the Electoral Office (see the Contact Us page) in order to be considered for a postal or proxy vote. Completed forms cannot be sent electronically.
If your application to register to vote is successful then you will be added to the next update of the register (see above for dates). Within 5 working days of publishing the update it will be sent to credit reference agencies.
It can take varying times for credit reference agencies to update their records. You will receive confirmation from the Electoral Office once your application to register is successful - it is useful to keep this in case the credit reference agency is having difficulty finding you on the electoral register.
We are unable to remove a person from the register unless they are no longer resident at the address in respect of which they are entered in the register or have otherwise ceased to satisfy the conditions for registration.
To remove yourself, a former occupant or a recently deceased person from an address you will need to complete and return a removal form. You can download the form below.