Voting

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Everyone is responsible for registering themselves; registering to vote is quick, easy and secure.

You'll need to fill in your name, address, date of birth and a few other details including your National Insurance number, which can be found on your National Insurance card, or in official paperwork such as payslips, or letters about benefits or tax credits.

You can register both your university address and your home address on the electoral roll at the same time, which means you can choose either location to cast your vote in a General Election. It is important to note that you can't vote twice in a General Election as you would be committing a criminal offence. However, you can vote in local government elections at home and at your term-time address if both are registered and as long as they are in different local government areas.

The next local elections in England are scheduled for Thursday 7 May 2026.

For City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Leeds City Council and Wakefield Council - a councillor is elected for a four-year term of office and there are three councillors representing each council ward. Councillors are elected every year, over a four-year cycle (with no elections in the fourth year).

On the same day, there will also be elections to the Scottish Parliament (Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) (129 seats) and Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) (96 seats).

Registering to vote when you enrol online

If you are a resident of Bradford, Leeds or Wakefield you will be able to register to vote with them when you enrol online for your course.

You will be asked to give your consent for your data to be shared with the relevant council, provide your National Insurance number (optional) and whether you wish to be added to the open register. The council will then check your information and if you are eligible will register you to vote. For information the open register is an extract of the electoral register, but it is not used for elections. It may be purchased in whole or in part by any person, company or organisation. Everyone has the right to opt out of the open register and remain on the electoral register.

If you are a resident of another council area then you can't currently register to vote during enrolment, but you can register to vote.

Postal Vote

If you have already registered and know that you will not be able to vote in person you can apply for a postal vote. You will need to prove your identity when applying.

Proxy Vote

You can ask someone you trust to cast your vote for you if you are not able to attend a polling station. This is called a proxy vote - you and your proxy must both be registered to vote. If you nominate a proxy, the person you choose to vote on your behalf will need to show their own photo ID to cast your vote. They will not need to show your ID. Please note the rules for voting by proxy have changed so if you applied for a proxy vote before 31 October 2023, this has expired, and you need to apply again.

In certain circumstances, where you have an emergency that means you can't vote in person, you can request an emergency proxy.

This must be something that you weren't aware of before the normal proxy vote deadline, usually 5pm, six working days before the election. Emergency proxy applications can be made up to 5pm on polling day.

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Acceptable forms of voter ID

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