Electoral Register

Registering to Vote

The Electoral Register is the list of everyone who is entitled to vote. The register for the City Council's area has around 80,000 names and includes the whole of Carlisle constituency and part of Penrith and the Border constituency. If you are not included on the register, you will not be able to vote.

To register, you must be
  • normally resident in the Council's area
  • over 16 (but you cannot vote until your 18th birthday)
  • a British or Commonwealth citizen
  • a citizen of the Irish Republic or of another European Union Member State
If you are a student studying away from home or if you have a second home where you live regularly, you can register at more than one address but you cannot vote more than once at the same election.
 
The Register is updated every October using the details supplied on registration forms sent to all households. A revised Register is published by 1st December each year.
 
In addition, the Register is updated monthly and you can re-register throughout the year if you have changed your name or address or have been missed off the Register. Only the annual October update is compulsory so you do not have to tell the Electoral Registration Officer when you move but you would remain registered at your previous address until the next revised Register is produced. Please also remember that being on the Council Tax list does not automatically mean that you are on the Electoral Register. You must register separately for voting purposes.
 
There is no monthly update during the annual canvass period in September, October and November when all households must register.
 
Two versions of the register are prepared a full and an edited register. The full register lists everyone who is entitled to vote. It can be inspected by calling at the Civic Centre, Carlisle. 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 persons and purposes is given in the Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2002. It is a criminal offence for them to pass it on to anyone else or to use it for any other purpose.
 
The edited register leaves out the names and addresses of people who have asked for them 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.
 
If you do not want your name and address to appear on the edited version of the register, you can say so on the annual household registration form or on any other application to register.
 
If you do not receive a household registration form by the end of September or need any help or advice about registering to vote, please contact Electoral Services in any of the following ways:
 
Write to:
 
Electoral Registration Officer
Civic Centre
Carlisle
CA3 8QG
 
Telephone: 01228 817555 or 01228 817556
Fax: 01228 817048
 
 
Call in person at Customer Services on the ground floor of the Civic Centre, Carlisle.
 
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Inspecting the Register of Electors

The full register is available for inspection under supervision at Customer Services in the Civic Centre, Carlisle, during normal office hours (Monday to Thursday - 9.00am to 5.00pm; Friday - 9.00am to 4.00pm). The edited register can also be inspected at the County Library in the Lanes, Carlisle. The Register of Electors is not on the internet.

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