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Registering to vote in the UK and voting in elections

If you're a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen, resident in the UK, you can register to vote. You'll also need to show photo ID when you vote.

The West of England Combined Mayoral Authority (WECA) election will be on Thursday 1 May 2025. The deadline to register to vote for this election is 11.59pm on Friday 11 April 2025.

You can vote in this mayoral election if you are:

  • a British citizen or an Irish citizen
  • a Commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal or Spain, with permission to enter or stay in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, or you do not need permission
  • a citizen of another EU country, if you have had permission to enter or stay - or not needed permission - since 31 December 2020, and this has continued without a break.

Check who can vote in local Mayoral elections and read the SU's guide to Voting as an International Student.

You will need to register to vote again if you have changed your name, address or nationality since you last registered. It's important that you register, as universities are no longer able to automatically add students to the electoral register.

If you are eligible to register to vote and you receive a request to register, you can be fined £80 if you do not register to vote. Once you have registered to vote, you are not required to take part in an election.

You can read a guide to UK elections from the UK government.

Registering to vote

You can read how to register to vote in the UK, including the minimum age and where you must live.

You can register even if you don't have a National Insurance number. And you can register anonymously if you're concerned about safety.

Once you've registered you'll be added to the electoral register. If you're a student with a different term time and home address, you can register at two addresses, but you can only vote once in an election.

Once a year the Electoral Registration Office contacts every address to check that the details on the electoral register are correct. You may also be contacted when you move to a new address, reminding you to register. If you don't register to vote when you're asked to, you could be fined.

Photo ID for elections

As well as being on the electoral register, you also need to take proof of your identity to get a ballot paper at a polling station.

The need for photo ID is a fairly new requirement, introduced by the UK Government’s Elections Act on 4 May 2023. Find out about the photo ID needed to vote and the accepted forms of ID.

If you don't have accepted photo ID, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate.

The deadline to apply for free voter ID for the WECA Mayoral elections on 1 May is 5pm on Wednesday 23 April.

Voting by post

Find out how to vote by post. You need to apply by 5pm on 14 April 2025 to get a postal vote for the 1 May 2025 WECA Mayoral elections.

Voting on campus at the Library

For the WECA Mayoral Election on 1 May 2025 the University will have a polling station in The Library on our Claverton Down campus, open from 7am to 10pm. Remember to bring your proof of identity when you come to vote.

This campus polling station is only for students who registered to vote with a campus address (in halls of residence). If you live elsewhere in the city, your polling card will direct you to the polling station for your local area.

The Polling Station will be in the Library Food and Drink area on Level 2 (the south-east corner of the Library Entrance level, facing onto the Parade). You won't be able to use the study and rest area, or the vending machines.