Electoral Services

Registering to vote the new way . . . . . .

You can only vote in elections if your name is on the Register of Electors. We update the whole Register every autumn.

But, after a recent change in the law, we can also add names throughout the year.

Moved home? Coming up to 18? Just not on the Register?

All you have to do is fill in an Elector Registration application form. You have to sign your own form; someone else cannot do it for you. If you wish to register please print off a copy of the application form, complete it and send it to the address on the contact us page. Legislation does not allow for an electronic form of signature at present. However, we can accept a completed copy of the form that is either faxed to us, or a completed form that has been scanned into your computer and then e-mailed to us.

Click Here to download the Registration Form – Up to five names may be added on this form, but each person must sign where indicated on the form.

The full list of eligible nationalities can be checked by Clicking Here

When you send us your form we will add you to our list of new applications. Any elector can then object to your name being added to the register within 5 days of its inclusion. If this happens we will write to you.

If your application is not objected to, we will change your details within 2 to 5 weeks of receiving your form. We will write to tell you when your application is allowed.

We will also tell the Electoral Registration Officer for your old address that you have moved, so that your name can be removed from that Register. People who live at two homes (including students) are allowed to Register at both. If you do not want to be removed from your other address please explain why on your form.

There are special rules about names being added to the Register of Electors during an election period. Because of these you may not be able to vote at that election if you are added during this time.

The Government has now changed the law so that you have some choice about the use of your personal information. Under the changes, there will now be two versions of the Register: a Full version and an Edited version.

The Full Register lists everyone who is entitled to vote. Anyone can look at it, but you cannot have a photocopy of the register, you can only make hand-written notes whilst supervised by a member of staff. You can check it by calling at the Isle Of Wight Council Customer Services desk, or the Lord Louis Library in Newport.
Only certain people and organisations can have copies of the Full Register, and they can only use it for specified purposes. These include electoral purposes, the prevention and detection of crime and checking your identity when you have applied for credit. The law says who can have a copy of the full register and what they can use it for. The full list of such persons and purposes is given in the Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2002. It is a criminal offence for them to pass it on to anyone else to use it for any other purpose.

The Edited Register leaves out the names and addresses of people who have asked for them to be excluded from that version of the register. The edited register can be bought by anyone who asks for a copy and they may use it for any purpose.
You can choose not to be on this version of the register by simply ticking the relevant box on the Registration form.