Thread: Electoral registration for first time voters

Hi just thought someone might have come across this one before.

My son is 17 and in the army. This year when the electoral forms arrived, he was due to go onto them as living at this address. I'm not sure what to do as there is no guarantee where he will be on any one day in the year when they decide to call an election, also he doesn't think he should go down as resident here any more.

I couldn't find anything about soldiers in the blurb on the form, only about people leaving home and those in prison!

Anyone come across this before?

Sadie x

He can apply for a proxy or postal vote. It's a simple process. The info is at: www.direct.gov.org

Thanks Heli

A soldier is considered to live at the address where he would be living if not in the Army. I learned this last year after a council tax enquiry. So if he still has belongings at your house and sleeps there when he's on leave, then it is considered his home address, so he will be on your local electoral register, rather than where he is based.

As suggested he can have a postal or proxy vote. 8)

Apologies for slow reply. It is up to your son whether to register where he is based now, or "at the address where he would be resident if he were not in the forces", as already mentioned.

It is also up to him whether to register as a service voter, or as an ordinary voter. There are pros and cons either way. Registration as a service voter currently lasts for 5 years.

Information should be readily available to your son within his unit, and he will have had an exciting presentation about electoral registration during his basic training!

If you have already sent the form back to the Council, including your son's name, that is absolutely fine. If he then decides to register as a service voter quoting your home address, the Council will sort it out on the register. If however he decides to register in some other constituency, it is not an offence to be innocently registered in more than one place, as long as you do not actually vote twice.

About my vote - comprehensive info from the Electoral Commission, including info for HM Forces personnel

Ministry of Defence - How to register as a Service Voter