Voter registration deadline for 2015 general election
21 April 2015
The deadline for registering to vote in the general election taking place in May was Monday 20 April 2015.
The deadline for applying for a postal vote was Tuesday 21 April and applying for a proxy vote was Tuesday 28 April
For those wishing to stand as a candidate in the general election, the deadline for submitting nomination papers was Thursday 9 April 2015.
Electoral Commission’s public awareness campaign
The Electoral Commission recently launched a major public awareness campaign to remind people they must register to vote by the April 20 deadline if they want to take part in the General Election.
The campaign refers to recent research conducted by YouGov for the Electoral Commission that found that:
- 69 per cent do not know when the deadline to register to vote is, with 13 per cent thinking it is already too late to register. When given a choice of five options only 32 per cent correctly identified the deadline as 20 April.
- 40 per cent of those surveyed think it is not possible to register to vote online in England, Scotland and Wales.
- Over half (53 per cent) of 18-24 year olds didn’t know that they could register online.
2015 marks the first General Election where people can register to vote online; previously voters had to print out, fill in and post a form to the Electoral Registration Officer at their local authority.
Further information
The Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. The Commission regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (2000).
Video: The Electoral Commission
This article was produced by the Commons Digital Outreach Team. Follow the @HouseofCommons on Twitter for updates on the UK House of Commons Chamber.