Register to vote
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Why should I register to vote?
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If you’re not registered, you can’t vote in elections and have your say on who makes the decisions that affect you.
Credit reference agencies also use the electoral register for credit checks – so if you’re not registered you may have difficulty when applying for things like bank accounts or mobile phone contracts.
Voter ID
To vote in person at elections in England you need to show photo ID. Only certain photo ID will be accepted, including some passports, driving licences and Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) cards. Your student ID card is not an accepted form of photo ID.
If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID, or you’re not sure that it still looks like you, you can apply for free voter ID – known as a Voter Authority Certificate.
Check your facts
Your vote matters, so do your research into the candidates and parties before you vote.
To help decide who to vote for, you should research your area’s candidates and pay extra attention to the information available to you so you can make an informed decision about your vote.
While political campaigning should be transparent, there can be a lot of information around elections which can be misleading or untrue. These stories are often on social media. If you see a headline, a list of facts or an article on social media, remember to check that it is true before taking it on board or sharing it with your friends. Look for a source or check whether a reliable news site backs up the information. Approach it much like you might a piece of academic work.
Like any research, check you’re using reliable sources. Newspapers may publicly support one particular party, whereas TV and radio journalists, such as the BBC, must generally give an independent view. There are also impartial and trusted fact checking services online that you can use.
Get more information and advice on election campaigning, on the Electoral Commission website.
Information for international students
If an election takes place in the UK while you’re studying here, you may be eligible to vote. If you are eligible to vote and you receive a voting invitation letter, do not ignore it. You can be fined £80 if you fail to register to vote after receiving a request. You don’t actually have to vote if you don’t want to.
Different international students can vote in different types of elections in the UK. The Electoral Commission website and toolkit explains in detail who is eligible to vote in each of the different types of election. For example, some EU citizens are eligible to vote in local government elections but not national general elections.
Who can register to vote?
- A British citizen
- A citizen of the Republic of Ireland, Malta or Cyprus
- A Commonwealth citizen with valid immigration permission for the UK (or you don't need it)
- A former resident of Hong Kong with a BNO passport
- A holder of a British Dependent Territories citizen passport, or a British Overseas citizen passport
- A citizen of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal or Spain
- A citizen of another EU country, if you have had permission to enter or stay - or not needed permission - since 31 December 2020, and this has continued without a break
Do I need a National Insurance number before I can register to vote?
You do not need a National Insurance number to register. If you do not have one, you can answer the questions in the following way:
- Question: 'What is your National Insurance number?'
- Answer: 'I can't provide a National Insurance number'
- Question: 'Why can't you provide a National Insurance number?'
- Answer by providing an explanation, for example, 'I have come to the UK to study and do not have a National Insurance number'