Electoral Register

To be able to vote at an election or referendum, your name must appear on the electoral register, which is a list of people eligible to vote. It is often used to confirm an individual's address, especially if they are applying for credit such as a mortgage, personal loan or even a mobile telephone. If you are not registered you may be refused credit as well as losing your right to vote.

Everyone in your home must register individually and will need their National Insurance Number to do so.  If you can’t find it, you can find a lost National Insurance Number or call the National Insurance Number helpline on 0300 200 3505.

If you have moved house since you last voted you must register at your new address – paying Council Tax does not mean you are registered to vote. Applying to vote, doesn’t automatically add you to the electoral register. We will need to check your details first, then you’ll receive a letter to confirm that you’re registered, or we may ask you for more information.

To ensure we hold the correct details on our electoral register we undertake an annual canvass of all households in the Borough between August and November with a revised version of the electoral register being published on 1 December. Please do not assume that because you were registered last year that your name will be automatically included in this year's register. Also, being on the Council Tax Register does not automatically mean that you are on the electoral register.

Updating the register

The Electoral Register is updated every month. The table below sets out the dates we need to have received your application by so that your name can be added to the register the following month. There are no updates in October or November as a new register is published on 1 December each year following the annual canvass. To enable you to vote in an election, your name must appear on the register twelve working days before the election. In addition to the monthly updates, we carry out an annual canvass.

Viewing the register

The full current electoral register is available for supervised inspection, by appointment only, at the council offices.  Appointments can be made for a maximum of 20 minutes by phoning 023 8068 8000.  

Types of register

We keep two registers:

• The electoral register (full version) – a securely held list of names and addresses. The register is used for limited purposes specified in law such as: elections, detecting crime (e.g fraud) and checking credit applications.  The register is held at Eastleigh House.
• The open register – a list of names and addresses which can be sold to anyone who wants to buy a copy on request.

You can opt out of the open register

If you opt out of the open register, your details will still appear on the electoral register (full version). Opting out does not affect your right to vote.

To opt out of the open register, you will need to register to vote (even if you are already registered) and tick the 'opt out of the open register' box, or email [email protected].

• How electors personal data is used
• Privacy Notices for Services Areas
• Privacy Impact Assessment
• Retention schedule for electoral documents