On Thursday 4 May 2023, local authorities across England, Wales and Scotland will be holding elections.
Here’s what you need to know about how to make sure you’re registered and how to get a new photo ID if you need one.
Politics impacts almost every aspect of your day-to-day life, from education to transport. And your vote counts. When you vote in an election, you help choose who represents you and makes decisions on your behalf.
Who can register?
A person can register to vote if they are aged 18 or over on polling day, a British citizen resident in the UK, or an Irish, EU or qualifying Commonwealth citizen resident in the UK.
Check which elections you’re eligible to vote in.
How to register
You were asked if you wanted to register to vote in Leicester as part of DMU’s registration (or re-registration) process. If you still need to register to vote, all you need is five minutes and your National Insurance number.
Make sure you register before the Monday 17 April deadline for the elections in May.
Register now on gov.uk
You normally only need to register once – not for every election. You’ll need to register again if you’ve changed your name, address or nationality.
You can register to vote at both your home and term-time address, if they are different. However, this doesn’t mean that you can vote twice. You’ll have to decide where you want to vote.
Registration deadline
Register by 11:59pm on Monday 17 April to vote in the elections on Thursday 4 May, including local government, combined authority mayoral, mayoral and parish council elections in England.
You can choose to vote in person, by post or by appointing someone you trust to vote in your place, known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 18 April, and for a proxy vote the deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.
How to check if you’re already registered
If you are already registered (some students did this as part of our university registration process), you should have received a polling card at your registered address recently, therefore you don’t need to worry about registering again, unless your details have changed.
If you need to check if you are registered at a UK address, you should contact the Electoral Registration Office that covers your local area.
Voter ID
Make sure you have your photo ID or get one as soon as possible.
From May, voters in England will need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations in some elections. This is a new requirement, introduced by the Elections Act, which was passed last year.
If you don't have an accepted photo ID, you can apply for a free voter ID document, known as a Voter Authority Certificate (to vote in May you’ll need to do this by 5pm on Tuesday 25 April). To apply you will need to provide a photo, full name, date of birth, the address at which you are registered to vote and your National Insurance number.
Don’t miss out, register to vote today!
Posted on Monday 3 April 2023