Image source, Getty Images
- author, Francesca Gillette
- role, BBC News
Millions of people who have not yet registered to vote are being urged to do so before a later deadline.
Tuesday is the last day for voters to register in time for the general election, with the deadline being 23:59 BST on 18 June.
The election is just over two weeks away, on Thursday, July 4, and registering online takes about five minutes.
Last Thursday was the busiest day for voter registration this year, with 330,621 applications submitted, including 75,605 people aged 18 to 24, according to government data.
But the Electoral Commission says young people, people living in private rented accommodation and those who have recently moved are less likely to be registered to vote correctly.
An investigation by the body that oversees UK elections found that around eight million people were not correctly registered in 2022.
The number is even higher for 18- and 19-year-olds, 40% of whom are not registered to vote.
By comparison, 96% of people aged 65 and over were registered, and 94% of those aged 55 to 64 were registered.
However, the Electoral Commission’s report said registration levels had “remained broadly stable across the UK”, although there had been a “significant increase” in registration levels since 2018 in Northern Ireland, and, to a lesser extent, in Wales.
“General elections are an important opportunity for people to make their voices heard and registering is the first step to the ballot box,” Election Commissioner Jackie Killeen said.
People who want to apply for a postal or proxy vote will now have more time to do so.
The deadline for postal applications is 17:00 on Wednesday 19 June and the deadline for proxy voting is 17:00 on Wednesday 26 June. The deadline for applying to vote by post or by proxy in Northern Ireland has already passed.
