How to vote on 4 July

Today Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that a General Election will take place on 4 July 2024. As the nation prepares for this crucial, long-anticipated event, it is important to understand who is eligible to vote and how you can register for a postal vote if you will be away from home on Election Day. Here’s all you need to know on how to vote on 4 July.

Who is allowed to vote?

To vote in a General Election, individuals must meet specific eligibility criteria. Eligible voters include:

British citizens: anyone holding British citizenship and is registered to vote
Irish citizens: Irish citizens who are resident in the UK who are also eligible to vote
Commonwealth citizens: residents of the UK who are citizens of Commonwealth countries and have leave to remain in the UK, or do not require such leave
Age: voters must be 18 years or older on the day of the election
Residence: voters must be registered at an address in the UK or be a British citizen living abroad. This now applies regardless of how long they have been living outside the UK. A new law came into effect in January 2024 that ended the previous 15-year time limit.
Exclusions: Certain individuals are excluded from voting, including members of the House of Lords, EU citizens (other than those from Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus), prisoners serving a sentence, and those convicted of certain electoral offences

How to register to vote

If you meet the eligibility criteria and have not yet registered to vote, you must do so to participate in the upcoming election. The registration process is straightforward:

Online registration: visit the government website at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote to complete the registration process online
By post: if you prefer, you can download a paper registration form from the same website, fill it out, and send it to your local Electoral Registration Office.

Survivors of domestic abuse can register to vote anonymously.

The deadline for voter registration is usually 12 working days before the election, so ensure you complete your registration well in advance to vote on 4 July. This will be Tuesday 18 June.

Registering for a postal vote

If you are away from home on 4 July, or if you prefer to vote by post for any other reason, you can apply for a postal vote. Here’s how. Go to the government’s website:

Do it online: by filling in the online application form or
Download the postal vote application form: which you can do from this link
- Complete the form: you must fill in your details, including your address and the address where you want the postal ballot to be sent. Make sure you sign and date the form. Ensure you do this in good time if you are abroad.
- Send the completed form: to your local Electoral Registration Office. The address can be found on the form or through the Electoral Commission’s website

Apply to vote by proxy

If you know that you won’t be able to get to the polling station on polling day, you can ask someone you trust to cast your vote on your behalf. This is called a proxy vote and the person casting your vote is often referred to as your proxy.

Reasons to use a proxy vote: If you have a medical emergency, are away for work, or your photo ID is lost, stolen, destroyed, or damaged, you can apply for an emergency proxy vote up to 5pm on polling day. There are two ways to apply. You can apply online at www.gov.uk/apply-proxy-vote or you can download, print and complete a form. The form must be signed by an ‘appropriate person’ (eg doctor, employer, etc.). See details here.

Deadlines for postal voting

To ensure your postal vote is processed, submit your application early. The deadline for postal vote applications is usually 11 working days before the election, so for this election, the deadline would be by 19 June 2024. Once you receive your postal ballot, complete it according to the instructions and return it promptly to the electoral services team at your local council. If you have already registered for postal voting for previous elections, check that it’s still valid, as this only lasts for 3 years.

Your vote needs to be with your local elections team by 10pm on polling day to be counted. If you have requested a postal vote pack, you can’t vote in person at a polling station. If you miss the postal deadline, you can take your postal vote, in its envelope, to your local polling station by 10pm on election day.

Voter ID

Anyone voting in person on 4 July will need to take accepted types of photo ID. You can find the complete list here. If you don’t have any of these, then you will need to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate from your local authority. You can ask them to send a form to you, or you can download it. The deadline to do this is likely to be 26 May. You don’t need Voter ID if voting by post.

This is our first General Election for nearly five years and is likely to be a consequential one. Ensure you are registered to vote and consider applying for a postal vote if you are unable to get to your polling station on Election Day or don’t have the necessary voter ID.

For more information and updates, particularly on deadline dates, visit the Electoral Commission’s website or the government’s website.