Registering to vote

The electoral and open register

The electoral register contains the names and addresses of everyone registered to vote in public elections and is also used for:

• jury service
• preventing and detecting crime
• financial credit checks

The open register (previously known as the edited register) is an extract of the electoral register and can be bought by anyone, such as businesses and charities to confirm name and address details.

Opting out of the open register

Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask us to remove them. You can do this by opting out of the open register when registering, or at any time after registering by emailing elections@enfield.gov.uk to request an opt out form. Opting out of the open register will not affect your right to vote.

Your personal information

We will only use your information for electoral purposes. Personal information will be stored securely following the Data Protection Act 1998 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We will not give personal information about you and others in your household to anyone else or another organisation unless we have to by law.

Find out more by viewing our privacy notice.

Viewing the electoral register

You can view the Electoral Register by visiting Electoral Services at Enfield Civic Centre. You must make an appointment in advance by emailing elections@enfield.gov.uk.

You can take handwritten notes from either register, but photocopies and photographs are not allowed.

Special categories

Overseas voters

If you're a British citizen living outside the United Kingdom for longer than 6 months of the year, you may be able to register as an overseas voter. To register, you must be a British citizen and meet one of 2 sets of conditions:

• your name was previously on the electoral register for an address in the UK
• there are less than 15 years between the qualification date of that register and the date you apply to register as an overseas elector

or

• you have reached the age of 18 whilst living abroad
• you were too young to register before you left the UK or a parent or guardian was on the electoral register for the address where you were living on that date

Registration lasts one year and we will write to you 3 months before your registration is due to expire. If your overseas address changes, email elections@enfield.gov.uk.

Overseas voters can vote in elections for the UK Parliament and European Parliament but cannot vote in UK local elections, Mayoral elections or the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections.

HM Forces service voters

if you're a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth or EU citizen and a member of Her Majesty's Armed Forces, or the spouse or registered civil partner of a member of the Armed Forces, you can register either as a service voter or an ordinary voter.

If you're based overseas or think you may be in the next few years, you can register as a service voter. This allows you to be registered for 5 years at a fixed address in the UK even if you move around. We will write to you 3 months before your registration is due to expire.

Service voters can vote in the Parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections in the UK.

Crown servants and British Council employees

If you or your spouse or civil partner are working outside the UK as a Crown Servant (such as in the diplomatic or overseas civil service) or as an employee of the British Council, you can register to vote in the UK.

To register you need to give the address where you live when you are in the UK, or your last registered UK address.

British and Irish citizens, and qualifying citizens of Commonwealth countries can vote at all elections. Citizens of other EU countries can vote in local government elections but cannot vote in UK parliamentary elections.

Registration lasts one year, and we will write to you 3 months before your registration is due to expire.

Someone with no fixed or permanent address

You can still register to vote if you do not have a fixed address. This could be because you:

• are homeless or have no fixed address (including guardian of commercial properties)
• have been remanded in custody, but not yet convicted of an offence
• are a patient in a mental health hospital

To register, you need to give the address you would live at if not in your current situation or an address you have lived at in the past. If you are homeless, you can give details of where you spend most of your time.

You can request a form by emailing elections@enfield.gov.uk.

Anonymous registration

If you think your personal safety or the safety of someone in your household could be at risk if your details appear on the electoral register, you may be able to register anonymously.

You will need to:

• explain why you or someone in your household could be at risk if your name and address appeared on the electoral register
• provide evidence of court order documents or an attestation from a qualifying officer to support your application

You can find information on qualifying officers in the forms at GOV.UK - register to vote anonymously.

If you want us to send you a form, email elections@enfield.gov.uk.

How to register

You can register to vote as a special category by visiting GOV.UK - voting. For more information, visit Your Vote Matters.

How to vote

You can apply to vote by post or proxy (someone voting on your behalf). For more information, visit voting.

Eligibility to vote

To register to vote you must:

• be resident in the electoral area
• be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen, or citizen of a European country
• be aged 18 or over, or turn 18 during the registration period
• not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote

List of eligible countries

Commonwealth countries

*Although also EU member states, citizens of the UK, Cyprus and Malta are eligible to be registered to vote in all elections held in the UK.

**The British Nationality (The Gambia) Order 2018 came into force on 22 June amending the British Nationality Act 81, adding The Gambia as a Commonwealth country.

British Overseas Territories

British Crown Dependencies

Hong Kong

Only former residents of Hong Kong who hold a British Dependent Territories, British Nationals (Overseas) or British Overseas passport qualify for registration.

European Union member states

*Citizens of the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Malta are eligible to be registered to vote in all elections held in the UK.

Electoral register updates

Adding your details to the electoral register

Once you have made a successful application to register, we will send you a confirmation letter to tell you when you will be added to your address on the electoral register. If some details on your application are incomplete or unclear, we will write to you to request further information before we can add you to the electoral register.

Registration dates for 2023

On the first working day of each month (except in October, November and December), we publish a list of alterations to the electoral register. In the weeks before an election, we may publish some additional lists of alterations.

If you have any questions on when you will be added to the electoral register, email elections@enfield.gov.uk.

Annual canvass

Each year we are legally required to carry out an annual canvass to make sure the electoral register is up to date.

The annual canvass allows us to update information about who is living at each address, including any 16- or 17-year olds. This information is then used to invite unregistered residents to register to vote, and to remove names of those who are no longer living at the address.

Any changes made to the electoral register during the household canvass will take effect once the revised Register of Electors is published on 1 December every year.