Register to vote
Register to vote
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If you’re not registered, you can’t vote in elections and have your say on who makes the decisions that affect you.
Credit reference agencies also use the electoral register for credit checks – so if you’re not registered you may have difficulty when applying for things like bank accounts or mobile phone contracts.
To vote in person at elections in England you need to show photo ID. Only certain photo ID will be accepted, including some passports, driving licences and Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) cards. Your student ID card is not an accepted form of photo ID.
If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID, or you’re not sure that it still looks like you, you can apply for free voter ID – known as a Voter Authority Certificate.
Find out what is accepted and apply for free voter ID if you need to.
Check your facts
Your vote matters, so do your research into the candidates and parties before you vote.
To help decide who to vote for, you should research your area’s candidates and pay extra attention to the information available to you so you can make an informed decision about your vote.
While political campaigning should be transparent, there can be a lot of information around elections which can be misleading or untrue. These stories are often on social media. If you see a headline, a list of facts or an article on social media, remember to check that it is true before taking it on board or sharing it with your friends. Look for a source or check whether a reliable news site backs up the information. Approach it much like you might a piece of academic work.
Like any research, check you’re using reliable sources. Newspapers may publicly support one particular party, whereas TV and radio journalists, such as the BBC, must generally give an independent view. There are also impartial and trusted fact checking services online that you can use.
Get more information and advice on election campaigning, on the Electoral Commission website.