|HOMEPAGE | NEWS | WORLD SERVICE | SPORT | MY BBC||help|
|You are in: Vote2001: Voting System|
Friday, 16 February, 2001, 16:45 GMT
Who can vote?
To be able to vote in a UK Parliamentary election, you must be:
In addition, British citizens who have lived abroad for up to 20 years may vote, and voters in Northern Ireland must have lived in the constituency for the previous three months.
In all, more than 44 million people meet these criteria.
Barred from voting
There are certain categories of people not allowed to vote:
The Queen can vote, as can members of her family, but they do not do so because in practice it would be considered unconstitutional.
The electoral register
Traditionally, the register was compiled annually for each constituency by the local electoral registration officer.
Employed by the local authority, he or she sent out forms to every household, asking the names of eligible voters who would be resident on the qualifying date - 10 October in Britain, 15 September in Northern Ireland.
This was published on 16 February each year, and remained in force until 15 February the following year. It was, therefore, already four months out of date when it was published - and 16 months out of date by the end of its life.
In order to address these inefficiencies, the Representation of the People Act 2000 introduced some significant changes to the way the electoral register operates.
The one published on 16 February 2001 becomes the baseline for a "rolling register" which allows people to be added to and deleted from the electoral register throughout the year - rather than basing registration on residence on a single annual qualifying date.
If the general election is held on 3 May 2001, for example, any changes or applications to register received by electoral registration officers up to 12 March should be accepted under these new arrangements.
The changes also allow mental patients who are not detained offenders, homeless people, and those remanded in custody to register as electors.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
|^^ Back to top
VOTE2001 | Main Issues| Features | Crucial Seats | Key People | Parties | Results & Constituencies | Candidates | Opinion Polls | Online 1000 | Virtual Vote | Talking Point | Forum | AudioVideo | Programmes | Voting System | Local Elections
Nations: N Ireland | Scotland | Wales
To BBC News>> | To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>>