General election coinciding with house move; any problems with voting and elec roll?

[Deleted User]

Just a quick one now that it looks as though the general election is going to be announced today.

We are due to exchange this week and our move date is likely to be just before the general election date. But where would we vote?

We're on the electoral roll at our current address but assume we will need to update the roll when we move. But does that mean that we can only vote in our old constituency (I'm assuming yes) in which case do we need to travel back there to vote? And does our house move mean that there is a risk we can't vote at all...i.e. if we're switching from one electoral roll at one address to a different one.

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but it looks to me like we should be voting in our old constituency whilst registered to a house we won't own at the time of the election, which seems a little bit odd.

downshifted

I'm also in this position - will be looking on the Gov website

CLAPTON

you vote where you are registered i.e. at your current address.

DVardysShadow

Deleted_User wrote: »

it looks to me like we should be voting in our old constituency whilst registered to a house we won't own at the time of the election, which seems a little bit odd.

That is correct. Ownership of a house ceased to be a requirement for having the vote sometime before women got the vote. You could try to register for the new address, but I doubt you will be in time. You may do better to register for a postal vote in the old constituency

[Deleted User]

DVardysShadow wrote: »

That is correct. Ownership of a house ceased to be a requirement for having the vote sometime before women got the vote. You could try to register for the new address, but I doubt you will be in time. You may do better to register for a postal vote in the old constituency

Ok, this is what I thought. Some further questions/musings:

1) It seems silly that we have to travel back to our old consituency just to vote, which is quite a distance.

2) It seems silly that we are voting to elect an MP for a consituency which is not going to have any bearing on where we are living.

3) What happens if the new owners register themselves on the electoral roll at the new address? Could this 'bump us off'?

pimento

Ask for a postal vote at your current address.

DVardysShadow

Deleted_User wrote: »

Ok, this is what I thought. Some further questions/musings:

1) It seems silly that we have to travel back to our old consituency just to vote, which is quite a distance.

2) It seems silly that we are voting to elect an MP for a consituency which is not going to have any bearing on where we are living.

3) What happens if the new owners register themselves on the electoral roll at the new address? Could this 'bump us off'?

1] Get a postal vote if you can pin down an address for it to be sent to.
2] If it gave me an opportunity to vote in a more marginal constituency, I would be over the moon
3] No

downshifted

If you move before the election you can register at your new address up to 11 days before voting day - the following extract is from "aboutmyvote"

If you move house between December and May, it might be even more important to register as you may have missed the annual canvass – and remember that most elections take place in May. If you’ve missed the annual canvass, don’t worry – you can register at any time of year just by filling in a registration form on this site and sending it back to your local electoral registration office. But be aware, the deadline for registering before an election is 11 working days before election day, so don’t leave it too late or you won’t be able to vote!


If you want to vote in your old constituency by post

Where can I get my postal vote sent?



A postal vote can be sent to your home address or to any other address that you give. Postal votes can be sent overseas, but you need to consider whether there will be enough time to receive and return your ballot paper by election day.


When will I receive my ballot papers?



Postal votes are usually sent out about a week before election day. Once you’ve got it, mark your vote on the ballot paper and make sure you send it back so that it arrives by close of poll (which is 10pm on election day). If it arrives later than this your vote won’t be counted.

Owain_Moneysaver

You can be registered to vote at multiple addresses (people with holiday homes often are). You can only vote once in each election, so for a general election you have one vote across the whole of the UK. In a local council election you could vote once for your local council at home, and once for your (different) local council at holiday-home.

Owain_Moneysaver

If you are concerned about postal votes getting lost you can also appoint a proxy to vote for you.