The electoral roll

What is the electoral roll? It's a list of all the names and addresses of those registered to vote in public elections – such as local, mayoral and national – as well as for a referendum.

The chief aim is to ensure that only those eligible to cast a ballot paper get to do so. However, it is also used to fight crime (especially fraud), to call up individuals for jury service and to check credit applications (more on this below).

Am I not already on it? I thought everyone was already registered to vote these days? It's a myth that all households are automatically registered to be able to cast their ballots in elections – signing up for council tax, for example, doesn't mean you're signed up to vote.

It's entirely up to you to make sure you're signed up to the electoral roll (or register as it's often called).

Each local authority is in charge of the electoral register for its own area. To see if you're already registered to vote, contact your local electoral registration office. You can get its contact details by going to The Electoral Commission and entering your postcode.

How do I register? Registering is easy. Go to Gov.uk. It takes about five minutes or so, and you'll be asked for your date of birth, your national insurance number and possibly your passport number too. The electoral roll is updated by councils each month.

If you're in Northern Ireland and can't register online, go to The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland website and download a registration form.  You'll need to post the printed form to the NI electoral office.

Do you want to vote by post? If you prefer to make your vote by post, you must first be on the electoral roll and tell your local authority you want to vote this way at least 11 days before an election day.

Then – depending on the council – it will either direct you to a link where you can download the appropriate postal form to fill in and send off, or they will separately send you a postal voting slip to send back.

Is it the same for voting by proxy? There are slightly different deadlines, usually you'll need to apply at least six days before an election or referendum. Or you can apply for an indefinite proxy vote at any time in the year, but you must be able to provide a valid reason why you'll need to vote in this way.

If you want to vote by proxy – getting someone else you trust to vote on your behalf – the person acting on your behalf must themselves be registered on the electoral roll.

Is there just one electoral roll? No. There are actually two versions of the electoral roll you sign up to...

— The full electoral register, which is used when you vote.

— The so-called open (or edited) register, which is available for companies to buy.