Register to Vote

The electoral register is the list of everyone who is registered to vote at UK Parliamentary, Scottish Government and Local Government elections. You must be on the register to vote.

You can register to vote on-line by visiting the gov.uk website. It is very quick and easy. Remember, you will need to have your national insurance number and date of birth to hand when you register.

Alternatively you can contact the electoral registration office by telephone and an application form will be posted to you. You will need to supply your date of birth and national insurance number with your application form.

You can register at any time.

The register of electors is updated and a new version published each year. However, if you are not already listed on the register or if you want to be registered at a new address, you can apply at any time to have your name included. You can register as soon as you move to a new address.

Additions and deletions to the register can be made every month. Applications have to be made at the beginning of the month in order to be included on the updated register published the following month or during the annual canvass of households.

Please note that in the run up to an election you will only be able to vote at that election if your name has been added to the register of electors up to 12 working days before the date of the election.

To be included on the register you must:-

• be resident at a qualifying address in the area
• be a British, or other Commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland or of another member state of the European Union
• a foreign national who has leave to enter or remain in the UK or who does not require such leave can register to vote but is only eligible to vote in Scottish Parliament and Scottish Local Government elections if aged 16 or over on date of the poll
• a convicted prisoner serving a sentence of 12 months or less can register to vote but is only eligible to vote in Scottish Parliament and Scottish Local Government elections if aged 16 or over on date of the poll
• not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote (age apart)
• be aged 16 years or over. You can apply if you will become 18 years of age before the register is next revised in the autumn but you will not be able vote in a UK Parliament election until you are 18 years of age
• From 5 April 2016, an elector aged 16 or over on date of the poll can vote at Scottish parliamentary elections
• From 5 May 2016, an elector aged 16 or over on date of the poll can vote in Scottish Local Government elections

Overseas electors

If you are a British citizen living outside the United Kingdom, and you satisfy the conditions set out below, you may register as an overseas elector. This will enable you to vote at Parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections in the UK (if you are a peer you will be entitled to vote only at European Parliamentary elections).

You must be a British citizen. You must also satisfy one set of the following two sets of conditions:

Set 1: (for those who were registered as electors before leaving the UK, within the last 15 years)

• your name was included in a register of parliamentary electors in respect of an address in the UK,
• that entry in the register was made on the basis that you were resident, or to be treated for the purposes of registration as resident, at that address,
• that entry in the register was in force at any time falling within the period of 15 years ending immediately before the date of your application, and
• Subsequent to that entry ceasing to have effect no entry was made in any register of parliamentary electors on the basis that you were resident, or to be treated for the purposes of registration as resident, at any other address.

All of the conditions in the set must be met.

OR

Set 2: (for those who were too young to be registered as electors before leaving the UK, within the last 15 years)

• you were last resident in the United Kingdom within the period of 15 years ending immediately before the date of your application,
• you were by reason only of your age incapable of being included in any register of parliamentary electors in force on the last day on which you were resident in the United Kingdom, and
• The address at which you were resident on that day was situated within the constituency concerned and your parent or guardian was included, in respect of that address, in a register of parliamentary electors or a register of local government electors in force on that day.

All of the conditions in the set must be met.

If you would like to register as an overseas elector, contact the Electoral Registration Office for further details and an application form.

Crown servants and members of the forces

There are separate arrangements for registering Crown servants and members of the armed forces serving abroad. Contact the Electoral Registration Office for details and an application form.

Using information received from the public, Electoral Registration Officers keep two registers – the Electoral Register and the Open Register (previously known as the Edited Register).

The Electoral Register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. The register is used for electoral purposes – such as making sure only eligible people can vote – and for other limited purposes specified in law.

All personal data in each register must always be processed in line with data-protection legislation.

The Electoral Register

The use of the Electoral Register is heavily restricted by Statutory Regulations. It can only be provided to, or used by, authorised persons including:-

• Election staff, political parties, candidates and holders of elected office use the register for electoral purposes.
• Your local council and the British Library hold copies that anyone may look at under supervision. A copy is also held by the Electoral Commission, the Boundary Commissions (which set constituency boundaries for most elections) and the Office for National Statistics.
• The council can use the register for duties relating to security, enforcing the law and preventing crime. The police and the security services can also use it for law enforcement.
• The register is used when calling people for jury service.
• Government departments may buy the register from local registration officers and use it to help prevent and detect crime. They can also use it to safeguard national security by checking the background of job applicants and employees.
• Credit reference agencies can buy the register. They help other organisations to check the names and addresses of people applying for credit. They also use it to carry out identity checks when trying to prevent and detect money laundering.

It is a criminal offence for anyone to supply or use the register for anything else.

The Open Register

The Open Register is an extract of the Electoral Register, but is not used for elections.

It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details. Your name and address will be included in the Open Register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the Open Register would not affect your right to vote.

Users of the Open Register may include:

• businesses checking the identity and address details of people who apply for their services such as insurance, goods hire and property rental, as well as when they shop online
• businesses selling age-restricted goods or services, such as alcohol and gambling online, to meet the rules on verifying the age of their customers
• charities and voluntary agencies, for example to help maintain contact information for those who have chosen to donate bone marrow and to help people separated by adoption to find each other
• charities, to help with fundraising and contacting people who have made donations
• debt-collection agencies when tracing people who have changed address without telling their creditors
• Direct-marketing firms when maintaining their mailing lists
• landlords and letting agents when checking the identity of potential tenants
• local councils when identifying and contacting residents
• online directory firms to help users of the websites find people, such as when reuniting friends and families
• organisations tracing and identifying beneficiaries of wills, pensions and insurance policies
• private-sector firms to verify details of job applicants.

A Note about the Open Register

As noted above, the law allows anyone to buy a copy of the Open Register (previously known as the Edited Register) for a prescribed fee. This register has been in place since 2002 – prior to that date the full Electoral Register could be sold to anyone for a fee. Since 2002 electors have had to make a choice about whether to opt out of the Edited Register. All households are sent a canvass form every year listing everyone who was registered to vote. Each person on the form may choose to tick a box on the form indicating that they want to be opted out of the Edited Register. Your will continue until you tell us that you wish to change it (unless you change address – then you would have to make a fresh registration application and Open Register choice).

In Dundee we have only very rarely sold copies of the Open (Edited Register). Any that have been sold have been small sections of the register requested by local community groups for community buy out purposes etc. We are not aware of any purchases by marketing companies. Although details of the availability of the Open Register are provided on our website (as we are required to do by law) we do not actively market this register.

If you are on the register and would prefer to vote by post or appoint a proxy, simply complete a form and return it to the Electoral Registration Office at 21 City Square.

Regulations require us to collect personal identifier information – your signature and date of birth. This is held securely and will be used at election times to compare against the signature and date of birth which has to be provided on a security statement returned with postal votes.

Forms must be signed if you need a form sent out you can contact the Electoral Registration Office on 01382 434444.

In August each year, households in Dundee will receive an electoral registration canvass form asking residents to check whether the information that appears on the electoral register for those living at their address is correct. The aim of the form is to ensure that the electoral register is up to date and to identify any residents who are not registered so that they can be encouraged to do so.

The annual canvass is an opportunity for people to check the form whether they are registered and if they are asked to respond then they must do so.

This includes asking for anyone living in the household to register if they are:

• A British or Irish citizen, a qualifying foreign national or European Union citizen – a foreign citizen must be resident in Scotland and either have leave to enter or remain in the UK or not require such leave.
• Aged 14 or older (15 year olds and some 14 year olds are also entitled to be included on the register as ‘attainers’) – you can vote in Scottish Parliamentary or local government elections once you are 16, and can vote in UK Parliamentary elections once you are 18.)

Anyone that wants to vote in an election must be registered.

Canvass Letters, Forms & Data Matching:

Prior to the canvass forms being sent, registered electors will have been data matched against national records held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Where all registered electors in the household are matched to DWP records those households will be sent an email (where an email address has been provided) setting out the details of the registered electors at that address and they will be asked to respond to confirm if the information is correct, or to inform the Electoral Registration Officer of any changes in the household. Households for which no email address has been provided and households who do not respond to the email they will be sent a canvass letter in August each year setting out the details of registered electors. These households will only need to respond to the letter if changes to those details are required.

Households where only some of the electors (or no electors) are matched to DWP records will be sent a canvass form in August each year setting out the details of registered electors at that address. These households will be required to respond to the canvass form to confirm the names of the registered electors at that address or to supply the Electoral Registration Officer with the correct details. Householders can respond to the canvass form on-line via the web address provided, or by telephone, text or email, or the form can be posted back in a pre-paid envelope which will be provided. Anyone failing to respond to the canvass form will be sent reminders letters and may receive a telephone call, reminder email or a household visit (subject to Scottish Government health guidance) in an effort to obtain a response.

The Electoral Registration Officer aims to publish the revised register of electors for Dundee City on 1 December each year although delaying publication can be extended to 1 February the following year.

Any residents who have any questions can contact the Electoral Registration Office on 01382 43444. Or you can email ero@dundeecity.gov.uk

A revised electoral register is published at the conclusion of the annual canvass of electors every year.

The latest revised register is then updated throughout the year by publication of monthly notices of alteration.

The process of monthly alterations to the register is referred to as “rolling registration,” where electors can be added or removed from the register on the publication of monthly notices.

To ensure an elector has been added or removed from the register prior to the publication of the next alteration notice, the Electoral Registration Officer must be notified by the last date for registration applications.

Applications are open for public inspection for a further 5 working days to allow for any objections until the Electoral Registration Officer makes the final decision by the determination deadline as to whether an alteration to the register is required.

If you require to complete a new electoral registration form to register to vote, the easiest way to do so is to go online at http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

If you wish to apply to vote by post, or appoint a proxy, please visit www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter where you may download the appropriate application form.

Further electoral registration information is available to view at www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter

You can also contact us at the following address:

The Electoral Registration Officer for Dundee
21 City Square, Dundee, DD1 3BY
Tel: 01382 434444
Email: ero@dundeecity.gov.uk