The Register of Electors
You can only vote if your name is on the Register of Electors. We update the whole Register every Autumn, but we can also add names during the year.
Moved home? Coming up to 18? Just not on the Register?
All you have to do is fill in a Voter Registration application form. You have to sign your own form; someone else cannot do it for you. If you wish to register please print off a copy of the application form, complete it and send it to the address on the form.
The Voter Registration Form is available to download
When you send us your form we will add you to our list of new additions to the Register. There is a period for anyone to object to additions to the Register, which is within 5 days of its inclusion. If this happens we will write to you. We will usually change your details within 2 to 5 weeks of receiving your form. We will also tell the Electoral Registration Officer for your old address that you have moved, so that your name can be removed from that Register.
Election Periods - Since 2006, there are special rules about names being added to the Register of Electors during an election period. Your name can now be added up to the 11th (working) day before polling day. Please check with the Elections Office.
The Two Versions of the Register
The Government has now changed the law so that you have some choice about the use of your personal information. Under the changes, there will now be two versions of the Register, a Full version and an Edited version.
The Full Register
The Full Register lists everyone who is entitled to vote. Anyone can look at it, but you cannot have a photocopy of the Register. You can only make hand-written notes when inspecting the Register, which is allowed under supervision. You can check it by calling at the Council Offices, Granville Street, Skipton.
Only certain people and organisations can have copies of the Full Register, and they can only use it for specified purposes. These include electoral purposes, the prevention and detection of crime and checking your identity when you have applied for credit.
The law says who can have a copy of the Full Register and what they can use it for. The full list of such persons and purposes is given in the Representation of the People Regulations. It is a criminal offence for the information to be passed on to anyone else for use for any other purpose.
The Edited Register
The Edited Register leaves out the names and addresses of people who have asked for that information to be excluded from that version of the Register. The Edited Register can be bought by anyone who asks for a copy and they may use it for any purpose. You can choose not to be on this version of the Register by simply ticking the relevant box on the Registration form.