Register of electors

Individual Electoral Registration 

Find out more information on individual electoral registration (IER) and what this means for you.

Register of Electors

The Register of Electors is effectively a list of addresses with names of persons qualified to vote and shows their entitlement to vote at various types of elections and referendums. Not everyone whose name appears in the Register has the right to vote at all elections or referendums. The Register contains statutory coding to indicate where such limited qualification exists.

The Electoral Registration Officer keeps two registers, the electoral register and the open register (also known as the edited register).

The electoral register

The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. The register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote. It is also used for other limited purposes specified in law, such as detecting crime (fraud), calling people for jury service and checking credit applications.

The open register

The open register is an extract of the electoral register, but is not used for elections. It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details.

Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register does not affect your right to vote.

If you wish to change your open register choice, please complete our online form. We will contact you once we have changed your open register status. The letter will confirm the change we’ve made and will tell you when a new version of the register reflecting your request will be published.

Viewing the register of electors

Current copies of the electoral register can be viewed, under supervision, at the Electoral Registration Office, Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells.

Historical copies of the electoral register can be viewed under supervision at the Archives Service, Heritage Hub, Hawick.

Although your name may appear on the Electoral Register, you are not under any legal obligation to vote in any election, unless you wish to do so, however, you must be on the register to be able to vote.

If you cannot find your name on the register, for example if you have recently moved house, you can register online.

You must provide your name, address, date of birth and national insurance number. This makes the registration process more secure.

Further information

More information on voting is available by contacting the Electoral Registration Officer.