Yes. The Elections Act 2022 removed the previous 15-year limit, allowing all eligible British citizens living overseas (regardless of how long they’ve been abroad) to register and vote in Parliamentary elections.
Individuals can register from age 16 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland; in Scotland, registration can begin at age 14 for some elections. This is different to the age for voting. n a significant move towards greater youth enfranchisement, the age to register to vote in Great Britain is now largely standardized at 16 years old. However, the age at which you can actually cast your ballot still varies depending on where you live and the type of election. In England and Northern Ireland, you can now register to vote from the age of 16. Despite this earlier registration, you must still be 18 to vote in all elections. This brings the registration age in line with Scotland and Wales, where individuals can register from the age of 14. In Scotland, 16 and 17-year-olds are already able to vote in Scottish Parliament and local government elections. Similarly, in Wales, 16 and 17-year-olds can vote in Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and local government elections. For UK general elections, the voting age across all constituent countries remains 18. A recent announcement in July 2025 of the UK government’s intention to introduce legislation that would lower the voting age to 16 for all UK-wide elections. As at September 2025, this legislation is yet to be passed.
in Wales, 16 and 17-year-olds can vote in Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and local government elections. For UK general elections, the voting age across all constituent countries remains 18. A recent announcement in July 2025 of the UK government’s intention to introduce legislation that would lower the voting age to 16 for all UK-wide elections. As at September 2025, this legislation is yet to be passed.
No.
Whilst an Imam or Priest can theoretically offer guidance and perspectives on how Christianity or Islamic values might align with a particular political issue, such as “assisted dying”, they cannot and must not seek to influence who to vote for or which party they should vote for in any way whatsoever.
If they do so, and influence how you voted, regardless of their intention, then they commit an offence.
For this reason, most Priests and Imams stay well clear of anything political.
This is because the decision of how to cast your vote is a personal one.
In the United Kingdom, religious leaders are recognised to play an important role in their communities and to have an unusual influence on their communities.
It is OK for a Priest or Iman to say “Make sure you go out and vote” – in other words, hey can encourage civic participation.
NOTE: Anyone with significant influence may be subject to the offence, not just Priests and Imam
What is an offence:
These are all things that Imams or Priests have been caught saying and reported for. (This often results on a criminal caution):
– You should vote for the Green Party.
– It is your duty to look after the earth and therefore you should consider the Green Party.
– Only Labour have looked after Muslims and therefore you should consider voting for the Labour Party.
– This is a Christian country and only the Conservative Christian Party represent Christians locally inu this election so you should consider voting for the
Conservative Christian Party.
– Reform is an Anti-Muslim party and you should not vote for them.
– Nigel Farage is a racist and you should consider not voting for them.
– Two of the Candidates are Christians and therefore you should consider voting for them.
– One of the Candidates is a Muslim and therefore you should consider voting for them.
What is the offence?:
In the UK, the offence of “using undue influence to affect voting intentions” is a serious electoral crime known as a “corrupt practice” and can lead to prison sentences.
The definition of this offence has been modernised and expanded by the Elections Act 2022 to make it simpler for authorities to prosecute and to cover a wider range of intimidatory activities.
What Constitutes Undue Influence?
A person is guilty of undue influence if they carry out an activity for the purpose of:
– Inducing or compelling a person to vote in a particular way or to refrain from voting.
– Otherwise impeding or preventing the free exercise of a person’s right to vote.
The law also covers a person who carries out such an activity after an election on account of someone having voted or not voted in a certain way.
The activities that fall under this offence are explicitly defined and include:
– Using or threatening to use violence against a person.
– Damaging or threatening to damage a person’s property.
– Damaging or threatening to damage a person’s reputation.
– Causing or threatening to cause financial loss to a person.
– Causing spiritual injury to, or placing undue spiritual pressure on, a person.
– Any other act designed to intimidate a person.
– Any act designed to deceive a person in relation to the administration of an election.
This offence is not limited to physical actions in or around a polling station; it applies to all campaign activity, including printed materials and online communication.
Penalties
Undue influence is a “corrupt practice,” which is a serious electoral offence. The penalties for a conviction can include:
– Imprisonment or
– A fine.
Disqualification:
A person convicted of a corrupt practice, including undue influence, is disqualified for a period from being elected to the House of Commons or holding any elective office. A specific penalty, known as a “disqualification order,” was introduced by the Elections Act 2022, which can ban a person convicted of intimidatory behaviour from holding elected office for five years. This can be imposed in addition to any other criminal sentence.
Can a religious leader’s actions result in an election being declared void and could the religous leader be personally liable for all resulting costs (which would be considerable)?
“Undue influence” is an electoral offence that has a long history in UK law, with specific provisions for “spiritual injury” or “spiritual pressure.” This offence is committed when someone, directly or indirectly, inflicts or threatens to inflict “any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or loss” to induce a person to vote or not vote, or to influence them in a particular way.
The law is designed to prevent those with religious authority from abusing their position to manipulate the democratic process. A key historical case involved Lutfur Rahman, a former mayor of Tower Hamlets, where an election court found that his supporters, including a leader of a council of mosques, had used “undue spiritual influence” to sway voters. As a result, the election was declared void.
This is a complex area, but the religious leader could be found to have committed a corrupt practice could be held personally liable for a significant portion of the costs both of the Election Petition and the costs of re-running that election.
An election petition is a legal challenge to an election result. The costs of this are a matter for the election court to decide. If a petition is successful, the losing side (which could include the candidate and/or the person found to have committed the corrupt practice) is typically ordered to pay the petitioner’s costs.
The first case was a Bishop’s letter in Ireland in the 1800s that caused an election to be declared void.
In 2014, the then-mayor of Tower Hamlets Luftur Rahman had been found guilty in April 2015 of a number of variety of corrupt and illegal practices in connection with his re-election to that office in 2014. These practices included making false statements of fact about another candidate’s personal conduct or character, electoral bribery; and (by his agents) personation, postal vote fraud, fraudulent registration of voters, and the illegal payment of canvassers. They also included undue spiritual influence, a corrupt practice of which it appears that no-one had been found guilty in the previous 120 years or so (and in respect of which there had been only nine successful election challenges, all in Ireland between 1852 and 1893).
The 2014 election was declared void; Rahman was removed from office, was ordered to pay £250 000 in interim costs and was barred from standing for elected office until 2021; he declared himself bankrupt in 2015.In the Lutfur Rahman case, the election court found that undue influence and other corrupt practices had occurred, and Mr. Rahman was personally ordered to pay a substantial sum in costs, reportedly around £250,000. He was later declared bankrupt. This demonstrates that an individual found to have committed a corrupt practice can be personally and financially exposed.
Whilst the costs of re-running an election (a by-election) are generally borne by the State, either through central government funds (for parliamentary elections) or local authority funds (for local elections); however where a religious leader has caused the election to be declared void due to a corrupt practice then not only could they be disqualified from standing for elected office for a period of time and as their actions have a significant financial impact on the public purse, they could face personal financial liability and penalties related to the election petition itself and the criminal or civil consequences of their actions and the local authority, having a duty to protect the public purse, would be required to pursue the religious leader for liability for the costs of re-running the election*.
- To date no religious leader has been sued for the cost of re-running the election.
The information provided is based on UK law, particularly the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Elections Act 2022. The principles discussed are applicable to parliamentary and local government elections in the UK.
Yes, qualifying Commonwealth citizens legally resident in the UK can register and vote in UK Parliamentary, devolved, and local elections.
EU citizens can vote in local and devolved elections if they have settled or pre-settled status and meet residency requirements, but cannot vote in UK Parliamentary elections.
No. You can opt out of the “Open Register” which will partially limit a Political Party’s Access to Your Data, but in the United Kingdom, it is important to understand that you cannot be removed from the “full electoral register,” which political parties are legally entitled to access for electoral purposes, so during the election period, if you are on the electoral register, you will be visible to the political parties, unless you have used the Anonymous Voter route.
Yes. By opting out of the ‘open register’ (a version sold to third parties), your details will only appear on the full register, which is not sold for marketing.
British citizens living abroad can register as overseas voters for UK Parliamentary elections and some referendums (but not local elections); rules may require the person to have previously been registered or resident in the UK. ReformParty UK, likely to be the next Government has stated it will review this right for anyone who has lived abroad for more than 5 years &/or who fails to vote in 2 general elections.
Yes, individuals with no fixed address, including those living in mobile homes or on boats, may register to vote by making a ‘declaration of local connection’ with the area where they normally spend time.
Yes, qualifying Commonwealth citizens, citizens of the Republic of Ireland, and (for some elections and local government elections) certain EU citizens can register and vote.
Yes, British citizens living abroad (overseas voters) can register online as long as they were previously registered or resident in the UK. They must provide the postcode of their last UK address and, in some cases, passport details.
Yes, to change name, address, or nationality, you must re-register with the new details using the online system or a paper form.
Yes, care home residents can register at their care home address and should be supported by home staff or local electoral registration officers if needed.
Yes, people on bail can register and vote. Only convicted prisoners currently serving a sentence are disqualified from voting. Individuals on bail or remand retain full voting rights.
- The right of prisoners to vote in Great Britain is a complex and jurisdiction-specific issue, marked by a general prohibition for convicted individuals serving custodial sentences, with notable exceptions and a significant divergence in Scotland. While a blanket ban remains in place for most convicted prisoners in England and Wales, Scotland has enacted reforms to allow some prisoners to participate in devolved elections. The foundational legal framework governing this issue is the Representation of the People Act 1983, which disqualifies individuals convicted of a criminal offence and serving a sentence in a penal institution from voting in UK parliamentary and local elections in England and Wales. In England and Wales, the vast majority of convicted prisoners are barred from voting in any election. However, this prohibition is not absolute. The following categories of prisoners are eligible to vote:
a) Remand Prisoners: Individuals who are in custody awaiting trial or sentencing have the right to vote;
b) Civil Prisoners: Those imprisoned for non-criminal offences, such as contempt of court or non-payment of certain fines, retain their right to vote.
c) Prisoners on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) or Released on Temporary Licence (ROTL): Convicted prisoners who are released from prison on HDC or ROTL are able to vote.
Scotland has taken a different approach to prisoner enfranchisement for its devolved elections. The Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 extended the franchise to some convicted prisoners. Under this legislation, prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less are eligible to vote in:
i) Scottish Parliament elections
ii) Local government elections in Scotland
While the power to determine the franchise for Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) and local elections is devolved to Wales, the law regarding prisoner voting currently mirrors that of England
The legal landscape of prisoner voting in the UK has been significantly shaped by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The landmark case of Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) in 2005 ruled that the UK’s blanket ban on convicted prisoners voting was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court found that such an indiscriminate ban was disproportionate and that any restriction on voting rights must be for a legitimate aim and applied in a proportionate manner. The UK Government advised the ECHR that it would ignore the judgement (as it is entitled to do. Many European Governments regularly ignore the rulings of the ECHR, particularly as the ECHR has adopted the pernicious “Living Document” Doctrine which allows it to make up the law as it feels appropriate, regardless of what the signed convention says. This ruling and the adoption of the Living Document” Doctrine has led to a long-standing dialogue between the UK Government and European institutions and both the Conservative and Reform political parties have undertaken to leave the ECHR and abolish the Human Rights Act if they form a Government (A number of Labour MPs in 2025 have backed this move, despite this being contrary to the Labour Government policy.
Yes. Homeless individuals can register to vote using a ‘declaration of local connection’, which confirms their connection to a particular area, such as a place where they spend most of their time.
Yes, students are allowed to register at both their term-time and home addresses, but can only vote once in the same election. This is because a student has no idea when an election might be called and could be studying hundreds of miles from home. This allows the student to vote where it is most convenient to vote.
Contact your local electoral registration office to request a correction, providing evidence to support the correct details.
You should contact your local electoral registration office directly, as there is no national online checking tool in the UK.
Asylum seekers without leave to remain are not eligible to register or vote; only those with qualifying immigration status (such as refugee status) may be eligible as qualifying Commonwealth citizens. ReformParty UK, likely to be the next Government, has stated that any Asylum seeker who has entered the country illegally will never be allowed to register to vote, or to vote.
You should re-register at your new address, either online or by paper form. Registration can be updated at any time through the national voter registration system.
You cannot vote online, but you can register to vote online. Visit the official government website (www.gov.uk/register-to-vote), complete the online form with your name, address, date of birth, nationality, and National Insurance number. Registration normally takes less than 5 minutes.
People with no fixed address can register using a ‘declaration of local connection’, stating where they spend most of their time (for example, a night shelter or town centre).
British citizens can vote in all UK elections, including Parliamentary, local, devolved, mayoral, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections, if registered.
Under current rules, British citizens abroad can register as overseas voters indefinitely if they were previously registered or resident in the UK, and renew their registration every three years. ReformParty UK, likely to be the next Government has stated it will review this right for anyone who has lived abroad for more than 5 years &/or who fails to vote in 2 general elections.
It is legal to register at more than one address if legitimately resident at both, e.g., students, but it is an offence to vote more than once in the same type of election.
There are two versions of the electoral register in the UK:
i) The Full Electoral Register: This is the complete list of everyone who is registered to vote. It is used for conducting elections, preventing and detecting crime, and for checking credit applications. By law, political parties, candidates, and elected representatives are provided with the full register to use for electoral purposes, such as sending out election materials. You cannot remove your details from this register.
ii) The Open Register: This is an extract of the electoral register that is available for anyone to buy, including businesses, charities, and individuals. It can be used for a variety of purposes, such as marketing and verifying identities.
For celebrities, high-target individuals, or anyone whose safety would be at risk if their address were to become public, opting out of the full electoral register is not an option.
However, a crucial safeguard exists: anonymous registration. This legal provision allows individuals to register to vote without their name and address appearing on any version of the electoral register, including the full register provided to political parties and credit reference agencies. This measure is specifically designed for those who can demonstrate that they, or another member of their household, would be in danger if their details were published. This could include individuals at risk of domestic abuse, stalking, or those in professions that might make them a target, such as law enforcement or the judiciary. While being a celebrity or a high-profile figure does not automatically grant the right to anonymous registration, it can be a contributing factor if a genuine safety risk can be proven.
To register to vote anonymously, you cannot use the standard voter registration process. Instead, you must complete a separate application form and provide evidence to support your claim that your safety, or the safety of someone in your household, would be compromised. The steps are:
i) Obtain the correct form: You will need to contact your local Electoral Registration Office to request an anonymous registration application form.
ii) Provide supporting evidence: This is a critical part of the application. The evidence must come from a qualifying source and support your claim of a safety risk. This can include:
a) A court order, such as an injunction or restraining order.
b) A letter or attestation from a senior police officer (at the rank of inspector or above).
c) A letter from the Director General of the Security Service or the National Crime Agency.
d) A letter from a social worker or a refuge manager.
iii) Submitting the application: The completed form and supporting evidence must be submitted to your local Electoral Registration Office.
If your application is successful, your name and address will not appear on either the full electoral register or the open register. Instead, you will be assigned a voter number, and your entry will be marked as anonymous. This allows you to vote without revealing your personal details.
Anonymous registration is valid for one year, and you will need to renew your application annually by providing updated evidence of the ongoing risk. This ensures that the system is reserved for those who genuinely need this level of protection.
For those who do not qualify for anonymous registration but still have concerns, it is important to remember to opt out of the open register. While this will not remove your details from the full register, it will prevent your information from being bought and used for general marketing and other non-electoral purposes.
The main requirement is a National Insurance number. If unavailable, other evidence (such as identity documents) may be requested. Overseas voters may be asked for supporting documents like a UK passport or proof of residency.
Anonymous registration is aa crucial safeguard exists: This legal provision allows individuals to register to vote without their name and address appearing on any version of the electoral register, including the full register provided to political parties and credit reference agencies. This measure is specifically designed for those who can demonstrate that they, or another member of their household, would be in danger if their details were published. This could include individuals at risk of domestic abuse, stalking, or those in professions that might make them a target, such as law enforcement or the judiciary. While being a celebrity or a high-profile figure does not automatically grant the right to anonymous registration, it can be a contributing factor if a genuine safety risk can be proven.
To register to vote anonymously, you cannot use the standard voter registration process. Instead, you must complete a separate application form and provide evidence to support your claim that your safety, or the safety of someone in your household, would be compromised. The steps are:
i) Obtain the correct form: You will need to contact your local Electoral Registration Office to request an anonymous registration application form.
ii) Provide supporting evidence: This is a critical part of the application. The evidence must come from a qualifying source and support your claim of a safety risk. This can include:
a) A court order, such as an injunction or restraining order.
b) A letter or attestation from a senior police officer (at the rank of inspector or above).
c) A letter from the Director General of the Security Service or the National Crime Agency.
d) A letter from a social worker or a refuge manager.
iii) Submitting the application: The completed form and supporting evidence must be submitted to your local Electoral Registration Office.
If your application is successful, your name and address will not appear on either the full electoral register or the open register. Instead, you will be assigned a voter number, and your entry will be marked as anonymous. This allows you to vote without revealing your personal details.
Anonymous registration is valid for one year, and you will need to renew your application annually by providing updated evidence of the ongoing risk. This ensures that the system is reserved for those who genuinely need this level of protection.
For those who do not qualify for anonymous registration but still have concerns, it is important to remember to opt out of the open register. While this will not remove your details from the full register, it will prevent your information from being bought and used for general marketing and other non-electoral purposes.
Registration typically closes 12 working days before polling day. The exact deadline is published ahead of each election.
When registering to vote, you can opt out of the open register. If already registered, contact your local registration office or update preferences online.
British citizens: all elections
Irish citizens: UK Parliamentary, devolved, and local
Qualifying Commonwealth citizens: UK Parliamentary, devolved, and local
EU citizens (with settled/pre-settled status): local and devolved elections only (not Parliamentary).
Disqualified individuals include convicted prisoners, those found guilty of certain electoral offences, and people legally incapable because of mental incapacity (subject to current laws), except where specifically permitted.
Anyone who is a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, or (for some elections) a citizen of an EU country, aged 16 or over (18 to vote), and resident at a UK address can register.
Common reasons include not registering at a current address, missing the annual canvass, changes of address not notified, name changes not updated, or administrative errors. Contact your local electoral registration office for clarification.