Democracy updated for the 21st Century

News from our partners the Cabinet Office

Registering to vote is now simpler, thanks to a new online process that has been built around the need of users.

Registering to vote is now simpler than ever under a new online system which has been launched by Minister of State for Cities and the Constitution, Greg Clark.   Now people will be able to register to vote online in just three minutes by simply providing a name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.

The online registration service has been extensively tested with real users over many months and the live service is compatible with all platforms, including smartphones and tablets, meaning maximum convenience when registering.

Greg Clark said:

“This service will bring voter registration into the 21st Century and make it easier, simpler and faster for people to register to vote.

“Putting public services online is saving taxpayers money and giving people access to services when and where they need them.”

The launch of the new online tool is part of a wider move to Individual Electoral Registration (IER), where the old and outdated household registration system is being replaced by individual registration.  It is a simple one-step process of being verified against existing records and 80% of people will be automatically added to the register without needing to apply at all.  IER will prevent fraud by enabling the Government to verify that everyone on the register is who they say they are, resulting in greater trust in the legitimacy and fairness of elections.

You can now register to vote online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Further information

Five million people register to vote each year.

The new online system was first demonstrated by the Minister in public earlier in 2014 and is part of the Government’s digital transformation.