Register to vote by end of Monday

ONLINE applications to vote in the British general election will be accepted up until midnight on Monday April 20, Connexion has been told.

This comes as the first postal ballots have now gone out and, as overseas voters are meant to be prioritised for this, they should be arriving soon. Apart from taking part in next month’s election, being a registered UK voter will also be an essential requirement to take part in any future referendum on EU membership.

Although an application online at Register to vote has to be followed by a council officer completing your registration, a spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said that online applications until the end of the deadline day - Monday - would be honoured.

However if you are not yet registered and want to vote (as long as you have not been out of the UK for more than 15 years) it is now too late to do so by post: so you should visit the website, equipped with your passport number and National Insurance number. The process takes about five minutes.

You should then be emailed the postal or proxy application form after completing the application, but they can also be found at: Postal/proxy forms. The deadline for these being received is 17.00 on Tuesday April 21 for a postal vote or at the same time on Tuesday April 28 for a proxy vote.

The Electoral Commission suggests that if in doubt you telephone the relevant council to find out if you can email them a scan of your form as opposed to posting it.

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