The electoral register (sometimes called the ‘electoral roll’) lists the names and addresses of everyone that is registered to vote.
There are two published registers - the full electoral register, and the 'open' register.
The full electoral register
The full electoral register lists everyone who is registered to vote in an electoral area, and each local electoral registration office maintains the electoral register for its own area. It is updated monthly and a revised version is published each year on 1 December.
The law says who can have a copy of the full register and what it can be used for. The full register is used for:
- electoral purposes
- crime prevention and detection
- checking identities in credit applications
- calling people for jury service
If an organisation or company is legally allowed to use the full register, it is a criminal offence for them to pass it on to anyone else or to use it for any other purpose.
The full electoral register is available for inspection at the Town Hall by appointment during normal office hours. You can also contact our customer services team to check that you are included on the electoral register.
The 'open' register
The open register is also known as the edited register. It is an extract of the electoral register that is not used for elections and it leaves out the names and addresses of people who have told us they don't want to be included in it.
It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details or for direct mailings about goods and services.
Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Your right to vote is not affected if you ask for your details to be removed from the open register.
Opting out of the open register
You can opt out of the 'open register' - this means that your name and address won't be included in the version of the register that’s available to anyone that wants to buy a copy.
You will be opted out of the open register for as long as you live at this address, unless you tell us that you want to opt back in. Contact us to tell us you want to opt out.