Elections in the United Kingdom
There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, local elections, mayoral elections, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Within each of those categories, there may also be by-elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday, and under the provisions of the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 the timing of general elections can be held at the discretion of the prime minister during any five-year period. All other types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to the devolved assemblies and parliaments can occur in certain situations. The five electoral systems used are: the single member plurality system, the multi-member plurality, the single transferable vote, the additional member system, and the supplementary vote.
Elections are administered locally: in each lower-tier local authority, the polling procedure is operated by the returning officer or acting returning officer, and the compiling and maintenance of the electoral roll by the electoral registration officer. The Electoral Commission sets standards for and issues guidelines to returning officers and electoral registration officers, and is responsible for nationwide electoral administration.
Electoral registration
The total number of names in the United Kingdom appearing in Electoral Registers published on 1 December 2010 and based on a qualifying date of 15 October 2010 was 45,844,691.Entitlement to vote
In England according to Representation of the People Act 1983, anyone who will be aged 18 or over on polling day and who is a national of any Commonwealth country, including United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, whole of Cyprus, but excluding British protected persons, can apply to the electoral registration officer in the local authority area where they reside with a 'considerable degree of permanence' to be listed in that area's Electoral Register.In Scotland and Wales, those fulfilling the nationality requirements, or who otherwise hold leave to remain in the UK, who will be aged 16 or over on polling day can register to vote, as the age for voting in the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd respectively, and local elections in both countries is 16. However, voters in Scotland and Wales under 18 are not entitled to vote in UK general elections as these votes are headed to England.
A person can still register at their ordinary address if they will be away temporarily. A person who has two homes may be able to register to vote at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area.
In addition, to qualify to appear on the Electoral Register, applicants who are Commonwealth citizens must either possess leave to enter or remain in the UK or not require such leave on the date of their application and no applicant may be a convicted person detained in prison or a mental hospital or a person found guilty of certain corrupt or illegal practices.
In Northern Ireland, from 1949 until 2014, a minimum of three months’ residency in the territory was required for registration. This requirement was
Remand prisoners, voluntary patients in mental hospitals and people without a fixed place of residence can register to vote by making a declaration of local connection.
Members of HM Forces and their immediate family members have the option of registering as a service voter, by making a service declaration based on their last UK address.
British citizens residing outside the United Kingdom can register as an overseas voter provided that they were on the Electoral Register in the UK within the previous 15 years. The 15-year period begins when they no longer appeared in the electoral register, not the date they moved abroad. British citizens who moved abroad before they turned 18 years old can still qualify for registration, with the 15-years period calculated from the date their parent/guardian ceased to appear in the Electoral Register. Overseas voters can only vote in UK parliamentary elections in the constituency of their last registered UK address. British citizens who are away overseas temporarily do not need to register as overseas electors and can register to vote at their UK address. The right for overseas voters to vote in UK elections was revised in 2024; both the 15-year limitation and also the requirement to have already been on an electoral register were removed. A revised online registration procedure for voters was implemented on 16 January 2024.
Crown servants and British Council employees employed in a post outside the UK can register by making a Crown Servant declaration, allowing them to vote in all UK elections.
An individual can register as an anonymous elector if his/her safety would be at risk were his/her name and address to be disclosed publicly on the Electoral Register, but the application needs to be supported by a relevant court order, injunction or an attestation by a chief police officer or a Director of Social Services.
The right of Commonwealth and Irish citizens to vote is a legacy of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which limited the vote to British subjects. At that time, "British subjects" included the people of Ireland — then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland — and all other parts of the British Empire. Though most of Ireland and the majority of the colonies became independent nations, their citizens have retained the right to vote if they live in the United Kingdom.
In theory, members of the Royal Family who are not members of the House of Lords are eligible to vote, although in practice they do not exercise that right.
Registration procedure
In Great Britain, most electors are enrolled during the course of the annual canvass, which electoral registration officers are obliged to conduct every year between August and November. Canvass forms are sent to all households, and must be returned, otherwise a fine of £1000 can be imposed. One person in the household must confirm the details of all residents who are existing electors, which includes adding or deleting residents who have moved in or out and are eligible to register to vote.Between December and early August, the rolling registration procedure applies instead. Applications must be submitted individually using registration forms available from local electoral registration officers or the . Although no proof of identity or address is necessary when submitting an application, the electoral registration officer can require the applicant to provide further information regarding the applicant's age, nationality, residence and whether or not they are disqualified and/or evidence to prove the applicant's age and/or nationality. Application forms can be returned to the local electoral registration officer by post, by fax or by e-mail as a scanned attachment.
As of June 2014, as part of the Government's Digital By Default policy, voters in England and Wales can register to the electoral roll online.
Special category electors do not register through the annual canvass procedure. Instead, they submit applications at any time during the year and have to renew their electoral application periodically.
Applications are received by the electoral registration officer. The officer adds them to a list of applications. The list is open for inspection for five working days, during which any other elector may raise an objection to an application. The electoral registration officer can initiate an application hearing if there are reasonable integrity concerns about the application.
In Northern Ireland, there is no annual canvass, and instead people register individually at any time during the year. Applicants must supply their National Insurance number or, if they do not have one, make a declaration to that effect. Proof of identity, address, three months' residency in NI and date of birth must also be included with applications, which are submitted by post to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.
Knowingly giving false information to an electoral registration officer anywhere in the UK is an offence with a maximum penalty, upon conviction, of £5,000 and/or six months' imprisonment.
Electoral Register
Each district council or unitary authority has an Electoral Register which is compiled by the electoral registration officer listing all registered electors. The Electoral Register contains the name, qualifying address and electoral number of every ordinary elector, the name of every special category elector and the electoral number of every anonymous elector. Any elector who was not aged 18 yet at the time of registration will also have his/her date of birth printed. Each district's Electoral Register is subdivided into separate registers for each polling district.Because the franchise differs between individual voters, various markers may be placed next to voters' names to identify in which elections they are entitled to vote. European Union citizens who are not Commonwealth or Irish citizens have their entry prefixed either with G or K. Overseas electors are prefixed with the letter F, meaning they can only vote in UK Parliamentary elections. Members of the House of Lords residing in the UK are prefixed with the letter L, meaning they can only vote in local government elections, whilst peers who are overseas electors are prefixed with the letter E, indicating that they could only have voted in European Parliamentary elections.
The register is published every year on 1 December after the annual canvass period. However, in 2012, because the Police and Crime Commissioner elections were held on 15 November, the annual canvass in England and Wales was held between July and October and the Electoral Register was published on 16 October. Between January and September, during the 'rolling registration' period, notices of alteration are published on the first working day of each month to add, remove or amend names. Notices of alteration are also published 5 working days before an election at any time of the year and just before the close of poll at any election to correct any clerical errors or to implement any court decisions. With the exception of a deceased elector who is removed from the register, any individual who is added or removed from the register must be notified by the electoral registration officer.
There are two versions of the Register: the full register and the edited register. The full register can only be inspected under supervision at the office of the local electoral registration officer, and must be supplied free of charge to the district's returning officer, the British Library, the Electoral Commission, the Office for National Statistics, the General Register Office for Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the National Library of Scotland and the relevant Boundary Commission. The edited register is available for general sale from electoral registration officers and can be used for any purpose. Electors can choose to opt out from appearing in the edited register by informing their local electoral registration officer.