How to register to vote

• How to register to vote
• The two versions of the register
• Monthly amendments
• Registration form
• Countries eligible
• Registering twice
• Keeping your vote if moving abroad
• Other categories of electors
• Anonymous registration
• 2008 Annual canvass
• Registration timetable
• Help and advice
• Who to contact
• Election results

How to register to vote
Every British, Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland citizen living in Great Britain is eligible to vote in this country's elections. All other European Union citizens are eligible to vote in European Parliamentary elections and local elections held here.

The Mayor of London and London Assembly Elections took place on Thursday 1 May 2008. To view the election results please visit the 'London Elects' website by clicking on this link. www.londonelects.org.uk

You can only vote if your name is on the register of electors (also referred to as the Voter's List). We update the register every autumn. However, you do not have to wait until the autumn to register, we can add, delete and amend names throughout the year.

If your details are incorrect or have changed please write to us to advise us of this in order for us to update our records. If you move within Wandsworth or to Wandsworth from another area you need to complete a new voter registration form.

You can download and complete the voter registration form below, if you are unable to download this form you can contact the electoral registration office and a form can be sent to you.

Only one person can apply per form and you must sign your own form, someone else cannot do it for you.

It should also be noted that being on the Council Tax list does not mean that you are on the Voter's list.

We will be updating the Voter's list as follows.

Before completing your voter registration form it is important to read the notes carefully, especially the notes that refer to the 'Edited' and 'Full' Register of Electors.

The two versions of the register
You have some choice about who can buy details of your name and address. There are two versions of the register: the edited version and the full version.

When you fill in your voter registration form, you will be able to choose whether you want your details included in the edited register.

The full register lists everyone who is entitled to vote including those who have chosen not to appear on the edited register and is not for sale for commercial purposes. Only certain people and organisations can have or purchase copies of the full register, and they can only use it for electoral purposes, the prevention and detection of crime and checking your identity when you have applied for credit. It is a criminal offence for them to pass this information on to anyone else or to use it for any other purpose.

The edited register can be sold to anybody and used for any purpose. You can choose not to appear on this register by ticking the relevant box on the voter registration form.

The cost of the register for a paper copy is £10 plus £5 per 1,000 names. The cost in data format is £20 plus £1.50 per 1,000 names. The total cost payable will depend on how many names appear on the register for the area a person is purchasing. This can range from the largest area being the whole of Wandsworth to the smallest being a polling district within Wandsworth.

The cost of the full register is the same as for the edited register.

The Council does not have a say in how much the register costs to purchase. The cost is set out in the "Representation of the People" Acts and is the same across the United Kingdom.

Monthly amendments
The revised register was published on 1 December 2007. Amendments (additions/deletions) can be made on a monthly basis on application to the Electoral Registration Service.

Forms to apply for the monthly updates are now available to download from this website.

 Voter Registration form (59 kb) 

Only those people who live in Wandsworth should complete this form. If you live in another area click on the link below to be taken to your Council's website.

www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

If you are a homeless person, a prisoner on remand or a mental health patient in hospital or any other residential establishment that is not your home, it is now easier for you to register to vote. You should compete one of the local connection voter registration forms downloadable below.

 Voter Registration form - homeless people (37 kb)

 Voter Registration form - mental health patients (43 kb)

 Voter Registration form - remand prisoners (42 kb)

Please return your competed form by post to:

Electoral Registration Service
Town Hall
Wandsworth High Street
London, SW18 2PU

or alternatively you can return it by fax on 020 8871 8382.

You can also contact the Electoral Registration Service on 020 8871 6023 (voice only), 020 8871 6024 (textphone only) or email us at electoral@wandsworth.gov.uk. Please note that we can only assist with enquiries regarding addresses within the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Countries eligible
Below is a list of all the countries whose citizens are eligilble to vote at all elections held in this country.

British Overseas Territories
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Hong Kong (special citizenship arrangements in place)
Montserrat
Pitcairn Island
St. Helena
St. Helena dependencies (Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha)
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands

Commonwealth Countries
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
The Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei Darussalam
Cameroon
Canada
Cyprus
Dominica
Fiji Islands
The Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan*
Papua New Guinea
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
United Republic of Tanzania
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Kingdom
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe**

*The suspension of Pakistan from the Commonwealth will not affect the registration of its citizens, or their eligibility for inclusion in the register.

**Zimbabwe has announced that it wishes to withdraw from the Commonwealth. However, this does not alter the voting rights of Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe is listed as a member of the Commonwealth in the British Nationality Act 1981 and unless that Act is amended, citizens of Zimbabwe resident in the United Kingdom remain qualifying Commonwealth citizens.

European Union
European Union citizens are eligible to vote at Local and European Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom, and below is a list of the European Union member Countries.

European Union Member Countries
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus*
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Republic of Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta*
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

*Cyprus and Malta are also part of the Commonwealth and therefore citizens of these countries are entitled to vote in all elections in the United Kingdom.

Registering twice
You can register for more than one address if you are a student studying away from home, at college or university, you can register to vote at both your home and term-time address.

You can also register for two addresses if you have a second home and live there regularly, as long as your second home is not in the Wandsworth Borough.

Both students and those with a second home have the right to vote in respect of both addresses at the time of a local election but must choose only one address to vote in respect of when Parliamentary elections are held.

Keeping your vote if moving abroad
If you are a British citizen and you are thinking of living or working abroad, you may still be able to register to vote at Parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections from your last address here. Your right to vote in this country's elections can last up to 15 years. Further notes and an application form can be downloaded below.

 Overseas elector - guidance notes and application form (204 kb)

Other categories of electors
If you are a member of Her Majesty's armed forces, a Crown Servant or a British council employee you can apply to be included on the register of electors by completing one of the forms downloadable below.

 Application to register/renew registration as a service voter (128 kb)

 Application to register/renew registration as the husband, wife or civil partner of a service voter (128 kb)

Find out more information about registering as a Service Voter

 Application to register/renew registration as a Crown servant/British council employee or husband, wife or civil partner (128 kb)

There are notes included on these forms, however, if you would like further information or advice please contact the Electoral Registration Service.

Anonymous registration
Certain people can now apply to be entered anonymously on the register of electors. Find out more information. 

2008 Annual canvass
In order to keep the voter's list as accurate as possible a registration form will be delivered to your property in August 2008. This form will show the names of the people who are on the register up to and including 1 August 2008, and by law must be completed and returned.

It saves time and money if you send your form back quickly.

It will assist us if the form is returned immediately and will help keep our costs as low as possible as nobody will have to call to collect it.

A canvasser will deliver up to three registration forms and will call at least four times to a property where the registration form has not been returned.

This canvass will be carried out in order to produce a revised register of electors and this register will be used for any elections that may take place in 2009.

Registration timetable

• August 2008 - a registration form will be delivered to every property in the borough.
• 15 October 2008 - is the relevant date for inclusion in the revised 2008 Voter's list. 
• 1 December 2008 - is the publication date of the 2008 Revised Voter's list.

Help and advice
If you need help or advice you can phone or write to the Electoral Registration Service. You can sometimes make a special appointment for someone to call at your home by phoning one of these numbers:

020 8871 6023 (voice only)

Please note that we can only assist with enquiries regarding addresses within the London Borough of Wandsworth.

If you wish to call in person, the reception area of the Electoral Registration Service is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Please go to the Fairfield Street entrance at:

Town Hall
Wandsworth High Street
London
SW18 2PU

Get a map

Alternatively, you can email us at electoral@wandsworth.gov.uk.

Register to vote - Sign language video
Streaming Windows media file. You will need Windows Media Player or a similar media player to view this presentation

If you are deaf or have partial hearing, and you have access to a textphone you can contact us via our textphone number 020 8871 6024

Who to contact
The Electoral Registration team is:
Chris Vickers - Electoral Registration Manager
David Howard - Deputy Electoral Registration Manager
Christine O'Brien
Barbara McCarthy
Yvonne Bent
Pat Walsh