UK Voters Can Now Register For Elections Online

The UK government has made it much easier to register to vote by introducing a new online service that can get people on the electoral roll in about three minutes.

In order to take part in elections or referendums, UK citizens previously had to print out a form, sign it and send it to the local electoral registration office, where it would be filed – a process which could take up to a week. The new process, which requires a valid National Insurance number and, in rare cases, a passport, should be almost instant.

Online registration is available immediately through GOV.UK – a single portal which replaced DirectGov, Business Link and other government resources in 2012.

Digital by default

According to the Cabinet Office, the online registration service has been extensively tested with real users over “many months” and is fully compatible with tablets and smartphones.

“This service will bring voter registration into the 21st century and make it easier, simpler and faster for people to register to vote,” commented Minister of State Greg Clark. “Putting public services online is saving taxpayers money and giving people access to services when and where they need them.”

The launch of the new online tool is part of a wider move to the Individual Electoral Registration (IER), which is set to replace the outdated household registration system. Once the switchover is complete, 80 percent of UK residents will be added to the electoral roll automatically, without having to register, thanks to IER’s verification and cross- referencing features.

Digital services are becoming increasingly important for the state. Earlier this month, the Policy Exchange think tank suggested that digital inclusion and support for the technology market could become some of the central issues in the upcoming general election.

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