UK elections May 5 2016
Elections will take place on Thursday May 5 2016 for the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Greater London Authority (Mayor and Assembly) and for 128 local authorities in England.
Also on the same day will be Mayoral elections in Bristol, Liverpool and Salford. Police and Crime Commissioners will also be elected in England and Wales.
Make sure your voice is heard
You can register to vote in the UK if you are:
- resident (usually live in the UK), and
- aged 16 or over, but you will not be able to vote until you are 18 except in Scotland (see below).
You must also be either:
- a British or Irish citizen; or
- a Commonwealth citizen who has leave to remain in the UK or who does not require leave to remain in the UK.
European Union citizens resident in the UK can register and vote at elections, including for London Mayor, to the Scottish Parliament, devolved legislatures and the European Parliament. However, EU citizens are NOT eligible to vote at General Elections.
16-17 year olds who are registered and resident in Scotland CAN vote in elections to Scottish Parliament.
Convicted prisoners CANNOT vote in any election, but those onremand and civil prisoners CAN vote provided they are on the register.
How to register
You can register even if you are in temporary accommodation, if you do not have a permanent address or even if you have no fixed address.
Most people can register to vote online in just a few minutes, provided you know your National Insurance number and date of birth. If you cannot provide the NI number and date of birth you may have to contact your electoral registration office.
Those who prefer paper can register by downloading a form, completing it and sending it to your local authority.
Voters in Northern Ireland cannot register online, but should download a form.
The deadline to register for the upcoming English local, London mayoral, Scottish Parliament, Welsh National Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly elections is the 18 April 2016.
No permanent address?
You can still register to vote even if you do not have a fixed address. This may be because you are:
- a patient in a mental health hospital
- a homeless person
- a person remanded in custody
To register, you need to fill in a form called a 'Declaration of local connection’. You can get this form from your electoral registration office. You can find their contact details in the 'Your local area' box on the top right hand side of the 'About My Vote' webpage.
Those without a permanent address can register from an address where you would be living if it were not for your current circumstances, or an address where you are staying temporarily or have lived at in the past.
Those with no fixed address can also give details of where you spend a substantial part of your time (during the day or night). This might be a day service, night shelter, or an address nearest to, for example, a park bench, a bus shelter or the doorway to a high street store.
If you aren’t registered, you don’t have a vote
