Registry entry

United Kingdom Register to Vote

Register an individual to vote in UK public elections using the GOV.UK 'Register to vote' service, which covers Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales). This document describes the applicant's identity, nationality and immigration-status gate, National Insurance number, current and (where the applicant moved within the last 12 months) previous address, the open/edited register opt-out, an optional postal/proxy voting interest flag, and the declaration. Northern Ireland uses a separate register maintained by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland and is out of scope. It does not submit the registration; the live gov.uk source is always authoritative (see VERIFICATION.md).

Registry entry

gb/co/register-to-vote

Jurisdiction
United Kingdom · national
Version
1.1.0
Verification
draft
Authority
Cabinet Office (Electoral Registration)

GovSchema spec v0.3

Authoritative source ITR-E (Individual Electoral Registration, Standard form, England edition)

Machine access

Schema document
registry/gb/co/register-to-vote/1.1.0/schema.jsonapplication/schema+json
Registry catalog
registry/index.jsonone record per schema id

Field reference

25 fields across 10 steps, read from the published schema.json — names, types, requiredness, and validation as the document states them. The live government form remains the authoritative source.

Your name and date of birth

  • firstNames string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 1–100
  • lastName string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 1–100
  • previousName string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. For example, a name changed by marriage. You do not have to give this, but it helps the electoral registration officer identify you; if not given, you may need to provide additional documentary evidence.

    length: 0–100
  • previousNameChangeDate date optional

    YYYY-MM-DD. Only relevant when previousName is given.

  • dateOfBirth date required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. YYYY-MM-DD. Registration is open from age 16 (England, Northern Ireland) or age 14 (Scotland, Wales), though an applicant cannot vote until 18. If the exact date is unknown, use dateOfBirthUnknownRange instead and explain in cannotProvideDetailsReason.

    classification: sensitive-pii
  • dateOfBirthUnknownRange enum optional

    Only used when dateOfBirth cannot be supplied exactly. under_18 = under 18; 18_to_75 = aged 18 to 75; 76_or_over = aged 76 or over.

    enum: under_18 | 18_to_75 | 76_or_overclassification: sensitive-pii

Nationality and immigration status

  • nationality string required

    State your nationality; if you have more than one, include them all (free text, e.g. "British" or "British, Irish"). Eligibility requires being a British or Irish citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen, or an eligible EU citizen (see euSettledStatusContinuousSince2020); the live source sets the exact eligible-nationality list. If unknown, leave blank and explain in cannotProvideDetailsReason.

  • euSettledStatusContinuousSince2020 boolean optional

    Only applicable to citizens of an EU member state other than Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, or Spain (those five, plus Commonwealth citizens, are eligible on a separate basis). Answer true if, on or before 31 December 2020 and without a break since, the applicant held settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or was resident but exempt from immigration control. Leave unset if not an EU national this section applies to.

National Insurance number

  • nationalInsuranceNumber string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. e.g. QQ123456C. You can still register without one; if you don't have one, explain in cannotProvideDetailsReason.

    patternclassification: sensitive-pii

Your address

  • addressLine1 string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The address at which you are registering to vote. The source form presents this as a single free-text address block; this document splits it into structured lines per registry convention (cf. gb/hmrc/self-assessment-tax-return-sa100).

    length: 1–120
  • addressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–120
  • addressTown string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–80
  • postcode string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. UK postcode, e.g. SW1A 1AA.

    length: 0–10
  • livesAtAnotherAddress boolean optional

    For example, a student living at a term-time address as well as a home address. You do not have to give the other address now; the electoral registration officer may ask for it later.

Previous address (if you moved in the last 12 months)

  • movedInLastYear boolean optional

    If yes, give the previous address in previousAddress/previousAddressPostcode; your application may be delayed if it is not provided.

  • previousAddress string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required only when movedInLastYear is true.

    length: 0–250
  • previousAddressPostcode string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required only when movedInLastYear is true and the previous address was in the UK.

    length: 0–10
  • previousAddressWasOverseasRegistered boolean optional

    Only applicable when movedInLastYear is true and the previous address was outside the UK.

Contact details

  • email string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Used to contact you about your application.

    length: 0–254
  • phone string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. In international E.164 format, e.g. +442071234567.

    pattern

The open register

  • openRegisterOptOut boolean optional

    The open register is an extract of the electoral register that can be bought by anyone and used for purposes such as direct marketing; it is not used for elections. Tick (true) to be excluded. Opting out does not affect the right to vote. Defaults to false (included) if not answered, matching the source form.

Voting at the polling station

  • votingMethodInterest enum optional

    Leave unset to vote in person at a polling station. post or proxy only records interest in receiving more information; actually voting by post or proxy requires a separate absent-vote application, which this document does not model.

    enum: post | proxy

If you could not provide some details

  • cannotProvideDetailsReason string optional

    Required only when one or more of nationalInsuranceNumber, dateOfBirth, or nationality is omitted. The electoral registration officer may request other evidence before processing the application.

    length: 0–500

Declaration

  • declarationAddressConfirmed boolean required

    It is an offence to knowingly provide false information in this application.

  • declarationDate date required

    YYYY-MM-DD, the date the declaration is made.

Version history

Independent and non-affiliated

GovSchema is an independent, open-source project. This reference is not produced, reviewed, or endorsed by Cabinet Office (Electoral Registration) or any government. The authoritative source is always the live government form and its official instructions.