If you are 18 or under, you are entitled to vote as soon as you are
18 years old. If you are a UK, Commonwealth or EU citizen resident in the UK then you will be eligible
to register. A list of eligible countries
is available.
It is therefore a good idea to look out for the Register of Electors
form delivered to your property in August/September. Whoever it is in your property that normally completes
this form, make sure this time they include your name and date of birth, if you are between the age
of 16 and 18. It is important that these dates are accurate as you will be able to vote from the date
of your 18th Birthday, provided your name is on the published electoral register.
If you are 16 or over you are entitled to check the electoral register
to see if your name appears. If you find that your name is not included then you can complete an electoral
registration form to request to have your name added. There are monthly updates
to the register throughout the year from January to September so even if your name gets missed off you
can apply at any time.
Registering to vote is important if you want to use your chance to have
your say on local or national issues.
If your name is not on the register then you cannot vote. Its easy to
register, you only have to give your name, address and nationality on the form. Once you've signed
it, send it back to us and we will write back to you to confirm we've received it. Then when we publish
the next update to the register you'll get a letter that confirms you are registered to vote.
Being registered is also important as it can be used to prove where
you live. This can be important if applying for any form of credit such as student loans, bank accounts,or
a mobile phone with a contract.
Voting at election time is your chance to have a say in how government
is run locally and also who represents you in the House of Commons and European Parliament. Find out
who your current councillors, MP and MEPS
are.
If you are registered to vote, at election time we will send you a poll
card. This tells you where your polling station will be and when it will be open. If you can't get to
the polling station then you can always vote by post or appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf (you
have to say why you can't get to the polling station to vote by proxy). .
When it comes to voting there are three ways you can vote. In person
at the polling station, by post or by proxy. Find out aboutdifferent
ways of voting
Students are often away at college or university and therefore have
two homes; your term time address and your actual home address. Because of this, students are able to
register at both addresses if they wish to do so. However although you may register twice you cannot
vote twice in the same election. This would mean that as a student you could vote in a local election
in the area where your university is and also vote in the Spelthorne Borough Council elections, provided
you were registered in both areas. You could not vote twice in a European Parliamentary election or
a UK Parliamentary election.
This means you can vote on issues that affect the area where your university
or college is and also vote on issues affecting your home.
