If your name is not on the electoral register, you cannot vote and have your say on issues that affect you.
It’s easy to register. You will need to provide some personal details, including your date of birth and National Insurance number.
Use the GOV.UK registration service to register to vote or to update your name, address or nationality. Contact us if you would prefer a paper form.
Email us if you want to opt out of appearing on the commercially available open register or update the contact details we hold for you.
If you want to change your voting method – for example, apply for, amend or cancel a postal or proxy vote – read our postal and proxy voting page.
When we have processed your application, your details will be added to the electoral register. If we need any further information, we will contact you.
You can find the monthly registration deadlines below.
Every year, we conduct an annual canvass of the electoral register to ensure it is accurate and up to date. Read our electoral register page to find out more.
Who can register
You can register to vote if you:
- are 16 years or over – although you cannot vote until you’re 18
- live at an address in the authority area, and
- are a British or Irish citizen
You might also be eligible to register if you have permission to enter or remain in the UK – or you do not need permission – and you are:
- a qualifying Commonwealth citizen
- a citizen of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, or Spain
- a citizen of another European Union (EU) country who retains voting rights under the Elections Act 2022 – meaning you moved to the UK before 31 December 2020 and have continued to live here without a break
Hong Kong nationals
Nationals of Hong Kong may be eligible to register to vote in the UK if they hold British Overseas Territories Citizen, British National (Overseas) or other qualifying British nationality status.
Following the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British Overseas Territory. Individuals who hold only a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport are not qualifying Commonwealth citizens and are therefore not eligible to register in the UK.
Particular circumstances
Contact us for further information if your circumstances are not listed below.
If you’re a student
You can register to vote at both your term-time address and your home address, if you wish. You'll need to make two separate applications. Make sure that you register at the address at which you physically live in Cambridge, not the correspondence address for your college or hall.
Remember, it's a criminal offence to vote more than once in the same election. This means that you may vote in local elections from both addresses if they are for different local councils (as they are separate elections). You may only vote from one address for national elections, such as a parliamentary 'general' or European election.
If you’re aged 16 or 17
You can register to vote before you are 18, although you can’t vote until the day of your 18th birthday. When you apply you will be asked for your National Insurance number.
You can still register if you have not yet received your National Insurance number, but we will need to see proof of your identity, so it might take a bit longer to process your registration. We’ll send you a list of which documents you can use as identification – it includes a passport and a full or provisional driving licence.
If you live on a houseboat
If your boat has a permanent mooring in the city, you can register to vote in respect of your houseboat. If you don't have a permanent mooring, you should register with a declaration of local connection.
If you live outside the UK
If you are a British national living abroad, you can register to vote at UK Parliamentary General elections regardless of how long you have lived outside of the UK. You must have either been previously registered to vote or resident in Cambridge to apply to register as an overseas elector here.
If you will not be visiting the UK when an election is taking place, you will need to apply for either a postal vote or a proxy vote. We advise that you appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf as, while we make every effort to get your postal vote issued in good time, we cannot guarantee that it will reach you and be returned in time to be counted.
If you’re a member of the armed forces
If you or your spouse/civil partner serve in the armed forces, you can register to vote for the armed forces in one of two ways:
- You can register each year as an ordinary elector at the address where you live, or
- You can register as a service voter with a 5-year registration, in respect of the last address where you lived or the address you would live were you not serving away from home.
If you’re posted abroad as a crown servant or British Council employee
You and your spouse or partner can register to vote for Crown Servants or British Council employees in respect of the address you last lived at in the UK, or the address you would live at were you not posted abroad.
If you will not be visiting the UK when an election is taking place, you'll need to apply for either a postal vote or a proxy vote. We advise that you appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf as, while we make every effort to get your postal vote issued in good time, we cannot guarantee that it will reach you and be returned in time to be counted.
If you do not have a fixed address
You can register with a declaration of local connection for an address or place where you spend a substantial part of your time. For example a night shelter, drop-in centre or even a park bench.
If you live in a house of multiple occupation (HMO)
It is important that we obtain information on every person in Cambridge who is eligible to vote. However, you may live in an HMO and not know the name of everyone in the property.
If you cannot obtain all the names, or if some people refuse to give their name for the form, please complete the form as fully as you can and then tell us in the 'declaration' section how many people are not listed or have refused to provide the information. We can then make further enquiries to try to establish who else lives at the address.
Registration deadlines
- Register statistics are on the electoral register page.
2025 and 2026 registration deadlines
| Application deadline | Registration date |
|---|---|
| Friday 21 November 2025 | Monday 1 December 2025 (publication of revised register) |
| Thursday 11 December 2025 | Friday 2 January 2026 |
| Friday 9 January 2026 | Monday 2 February 2026 |
| Friday 6 February | Monday 2 March |
| Tuesday 10 March | Wednesday 1 April |
| Friday 27 March | Thursday 9 April (election notice of alteration) |
| Monday 13 April | Wednesday 22 April (election notice of alteration) |
| Monday 20 April | Wednesday 29 April (election notice of alteration) |
| Friday 8 May | Monday 1 June |
| Tuesday 9 June | Wednesday 1 July |
| Friday 10 July | Monday 3 August |
| Monday 10 August | Tuesday 1 September |
| Wednesday 9 September | Thursday 1 October |
| Friday 9 October | Monday 2 November |
| Friday 20 November | Tuesday 1 December (publication of revised register) |