With the snap election having been called by Theresa May on June 8th, it is important that you remember to register to vote and go and make a difference. Therefore I’m here to take you through how you register to vote.
To register to vote in the UK, you have to be at least 16 and to do so you have to go on to the government website.
Once there, you just click the little button saying “Start now”, although before you do, be sure to have your National Insurance number to hand as well as your British Passport number if you are not currently in the country. The process of registering to vote should only take about 5 minutes.
Quick and efficient process
If you are already registered to vote but would like to vote via postal vote, then you can also use this system – there is a link on the Government website to the forms you need to fill in for this. If you are already registered to vote you don’t need to re-register!
In case you weren't aware, you can register to vote in two places, so if you are away from home and at university at the time of the elections, or want to vote in any local elections you can register at your university address (you can only vote once in any election though!). However, it is currently too late to register to vote in the upcoming local elections.
If you do register to vote, you also have to option to vote anonymously. However, this is only accepted in circumstances where you can prove there is a good reason to do so, such as if you feel you are in danger or concerned about your safety. If you do vote anonymously, your vote won’t appear on either version of the electoral register.
If you would like to vote anonymously you will have to contact your local Electoral Registration Office.
If you are in a situation where you are not in the country or are away on holiday over summer, you can also opt to vote via proxy. This means that someone else votes on your behalf. You can choose to do this for one election, over a specific period of time or permanently. However, the Government does have some stipulations on voting via proxy.
You can only use this option if you are away on polling day (work or military service), if you have a medical issue or a disability that means you are unable to vote in person.
‘To register to vote by proxy, you are required to fill in a form that is available on the gov.uk website and then returning it to your local Electoral Registration Office.
There you have it – the ins and outs of registering to vote and the options you have available to you!
Please do register to vote. It is important that everyone has a right to vote for who they like and voting really does help make a difference if you want to see a change.
