Overseas electors

You can register as an overseas elector if you’re a British citizen living overseas. You can register online.

Register to vote online

When registering, you should provide the UK address where you were last registered to vote. If you were never registered to vote in the UK, you should provide the last UK address where you were resident. You may be asked to provide evidence of your previous residence in the UK.

The area covering the address you were previously registered at (or resided at) will be the area where your vote will be counted.

Overseas electors must renew their registration every 3 years.

How to vote from overseas

When you register as an overseas elector, by default you will vote at the polling station that covers your former address until you submit a separate application to vote by proxy or post.

We strongly advise you to apply to vote by proxy. General election timetables are very short. There often is not enough time for ballot papers to be posted overseas in time for voters to get them back to us by election day.

Proxy voting

If you are not in the UK, you can appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf. Your appointed proxy has to vote for you at the polling station covering your former UK address. The person you appoint will need to be someone you trust, and you will have to tell them which candidate to vote for. If they want, the person you appoint can apply to have a postal vote for you. We will then post them the ballot paper pack.

Postal vote

If you are registered as an overseas elector, you can apply to vote by post. However, the list of candidates is not formally published until close to election day. This does not leave long for the ballot paper pack to be posted to you in time for you to vote and get the pack back to us by election day. We advise you to appoint a proxy.