Register to vote

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Your name must be on the electoral register if you want to vote in elections.

You can register to vote online - you will need to give your National Insurance number and date of birth.

To check if you're already registered, contact Electoral Services on 01305 838299 or email elections@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.

Start now

To register to vote in England, you must be aged 16 or over (in England, you can vote when you're 18 or over) and also be one of the following:

a British citizen
an Irish citizen living in the UK
a Commonwealth citizen who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission
'qualifying EU citizens' and 'EU citizens with retained rights'

View further information on registration for the following:

The easiest way to register is online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Alternatively, please contact Electoral Services and we can send you a paper form to complete and return.

Please note:

you are responsible for registering to vote (paying council tax does not mean that you are automatically registered to vote)
you will need to give your date of birth and national insurance number when you register
we might need to email or write to you asking for more information so that your registration can be completed. If you're worried an email may be a scam, you can contact Electoral Services to check
once you are registered, you don't need to register again unless you change your address (please note: if you are registering as an overseas voter, service voter, anonymous voter or crown servant voter, or as a person of no fixed address, there are separate rules on renewing registration)