The United Kingdom has had a fully democratic system since 1928, when women were
allowed to vote at 21, the same age as men. The present voting age of 18 was set in 1969,
and (with a few exceptions such as convicted prisoners) all UK-born and naturalised
citizens have full civic rights, including the right to vote and do jury service.

Citizens of the UK, the Commonwealth and the Irish Republic (if resident in the UK) can
vote in all public elections. Citizens of EU states who are resident in the UK can vote in
all elections except national parliamentary (general) elections.

In order to vote in a parliamentary, local or European election, you must have your name
on the register of electors, known as the electoral register. If you are elegible to vote, you
can register by contacting your local council election registration office. If you don’t
know what your local authority is, you can find out by telephoning the Local Government
Association (LGA) information line. You will have to tell them your postcode or your
full address and they will be able to give you the name oyour local authority. You can
also get voter registration forms in English, Welsh and some other languages on the
Internet.

The electoral register is updated every year in September or October. An electoral
registration form is sent to every household and it has to be completed and returned, with
the names of everyone who is resident in the household and elegible to vote on 15
October.

In Northern Ireland a different system operates. This is called individual registration and
all those entitled to vote must complete their own registration form. Once registered, you
can stay on the register provided your personal details do not change.

By law, each local authority has to make its electoral register available for anyone to look
at, although this now has to be supervised. The register is kept as each local electoral
registration office (or council office in England and Wales). It is also possible to see the
register at some public buildings such as libraries.

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