Urgent reminder to register to vote in general election before it's too late

There's less than a month to go before the general election that will decide who governs Britain for the next few years and what they'll try to do to run the country.

It's been four-and-a-half years since the last election, held in December 2019, and quite a lot has happened since then.

We've left the EU, been locked down to avoid being killed by a pandemic and seen the Tories topple two of their own prime ministers, leaving us with Rishi Sunak and his current government.

The world is a rather different place compared to 2019 as well, with new governments, conflicts and crises springing up all over the globe.

In the end, the decision on who governs Britain is up to the voting public, and if you want to count yourself among their number, then you'll need to make sure you're actually registered to vote.

Rishi Sunak has called a general election for 4 July, but you'll need to be registered to vote sooner than that. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)

How can I register to vote?

It's as simple as doing it online in one of the areas where the UK is genuinely the envy of the world - its government website.

Simply click here to start to process of registering to vote online, and since you're obviously reading this somewhere, you can access the internet that would seem like the easiest way to do things.

If you'd prefer to write things down with pen and paper then you can also download and print off a form, with different ones depending on whether you live in England, Scotland or Wales.

You can also use this process to change your name, address or nationality on the electoral register, and to either put yourself on or off the open register, which is a version of the electoral register that's available to anyone who wants to buy a copy.

The standard electoral register, which you can't opt-out of if you register to vote, can only be used for election admin, political campaigning, preventing and detecting crime, checking applications for loans and credit and being summoned for jury duty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If you want to buy the open register, which you can opt-out of and still vote, it's £20 for a data copy plus an extra £1.50 for every 1,000 entries in it.

A physical copy will set you back £10, plus £5 for every 1,000 entries.

Make sure you're registered to vote before you show up here on voting day, and remember to bring ID with you. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

What's the deadline to register to vote?

The deadline for you to register to vote lands on 11:59pm on 18 June, otherwise known as a minute before midnight next Tuesday.

It's best to get it done sooner rather than later so you're not scrabbling at the last minute to do your part for your nation's democracy, and also avoid the embarrassing situation of leaving it until the last day and then forgetting until tomorrow.

Remember, that deadline is the end of 18 June so there's only a few more days remaining to get registered.

However, you're registering to vote the deadline remains the same, so get it done ASAP.

I live at multiple addresses, what do I do?

You can register to vote at more than one address.

Say for example, you're a student who has a home near your university and also a family home back with mum and dad where you routinely visit for laundry and free food.

You can register to vote at both addresses as long as they're not in the same council area, but you can only cast your vote in one constituency.

It's a crime to vote in more than one place in an election, and Rishi Sunak recently declared that 'the law should show you no mercy' if you're a criminal.

There is little evidence that people actually do this, and you'd be having quite a busy 4 July if you were travelling between constituencies to vote multiple times.

Don't do crime, that's the official LADbible stance on this issue.

You can register to vote at multiple addresses, but can only cast one vote on the day. (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

I don't have a fixed address, what do I do?

Fortunately there's forms you can fill out for this situation as well.

This is normally used for people who are homeless and want to vote, people remanded in custody who haven't been convicted of an offence and patients in mental health hospitals.

You'll need to say where you would be living if you didn't have a fixed address, or provide an address you lived at in the past.

If you're homeless, you can provide details of where you spend your time to determine which constituency you'd vote in.

I live abroad but can still vote, what do I do?

You can also use the government's online registration tool if you're a British citizen living abroad, though you might need your passport details to hand.

It can also be used to confirm that you're registered as an overseas voter.

Being registered as an overseas voter lasts for three years or thereabouts, expiring on 1 November in the third year after you registered so if you sign up now it'll expire in 2026, so if you haven't done it since the last general election then you'll want to check your status and refresh it.

Rules on voting overseas were changed earlier this year, previously you could only register to be an overseas voter for 15 years after leaving the UK, now you're eligible throughout your lifetime.

You apply to vote with the local authority of the last place in the UK you were registered to vote, or if you never were registered to the last place you were a resident.

At the last general election, there were 233,000 overseas voters registered, while the government estimates that abolishing the 15 year limit means there are around 3.5 million Brits abroad who could vote in the upcoming election.

If you're not already registered to vote and haven't done so by 11:59pm on 18 June you've missed your chance. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

How do I apply for a postal or proxy vote?

There are three ways you can vote, go to a polling station yourself, apply for a proxy vote to send someone else to a polling station in your stead, or by applying for a postal vote.

You can apply to vote by post or proxy, and they have their own deadlines.

If you're applying for a postal vote that must be done by 5pm on 19 June, while a proxy vote application must be done by 5pm on 26 June unless you live in Northern Ireland, in which case the deadline for both is 5pm on 14 June, which really isn't much time at all.

You can also apply for an emergency proxy vote until 5pm on the day of the election itself if you suffer from a medical emergency or disability, your work commitments prevent you from voting or your ID becomes lost or damaged and a replacement hasn't arrived in time.

If you don't send your postal vote in time, you can bring it to a polling station in person by 10pm on the day.

I don't know if I'm already registered or not, how do I find out?

You can contact your local Electoral Registration Office to find out if you're already registered to vote there or not.

The government website has a handy tool to figure out where that is for you, meaning you can find out if you've got anything else to do before the 18 June registration deadline looms.

You can also use this to opt-in or out of the open register.

Don't make a big mistake during the election, it could land you in trouble. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

What do I do on the day of the vote?

If you're heading to the polling station in person then you should only go to the one that's listed on your poll card, which you'll likely get in the post in the run-up to the day of the vote.

Polling stations are open between 7am and 10pm so there's plenty of time for you to go out and cast your vote, but remember to take some crucial things with you.

All you need to bring with you on the day is yourself and a Photo ID that proves you are who you say you are, if you're in the queue before the deadline then you should be able to vote.

There's a list of approved Photo IDs and if you don't have one then you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, and the deadline to get this before polling day is 5pm on 26 June.

You don't need to bring your polling card with you, and it won't count as ID.

Once you're there give your name and address to the people at the polling station and they'll tell you what to do.

Mark your vote by putting a cross in only one of the boxes on your ballot paper, then fold it and deposit it wherever it's supposed to go in your polling station.

While it's not illegal to take a selfie of you voting inside the polling station it's not advised as it is illegal to reveal how someone else voted and you might do so accidentally with your picture.

You're not allowed to take a photo of your ballot paper, but confusingly you are allowed to take a picture of a postal vote slip.

Many parties are competing for your vote (Jonathan Hordle - ITV via Getty Images)

Who can I vote for?

There are plenty of parties hoping you'll vote for them at the coming election, with some only targeting seats in a certain country, while others are running everywhere they can and seeking to become the next government.

The current government are the Conservative Party, led by Rishi Sunak and having been in power since 2010, first in coalition with the Liberal Democrats and then from 2015 onwards by themselves.

Sunak called the general election during a torrential downpour, and since then the Conservatives have said they'd implement such policies as the return of National Service if they win, as well as abolishing National Insurance when they think it's affordable to do so.

Given current polling, a win for the Tories seems unlikely.

The polls indicate that the party most likely to win are Labour, the current opposition led by Sir Keir Starmer who say they want to provide 40,000 more hospital appointments a week, recruit 6,500 more teachers and set up a publicly owned clean energy company called Great British Energy, they also want to lower the voting age to 16.

Also in the mix are the Liberal Democrats, who have taken the peculiar approach to campaigning of letting leader Sir Ed Davey tour the country doing fun activities, such as going on a slip'n'slide.

If they win, they'd like to take the UK back into the European Union's single market, change the voting system to proportional representation and legalise cannabis.

Also competing at a national level is Nigel Farage's Reform UK, who are challenging the Conservatives for right-wing voters, they are an anti-migration party that wants to reform the BBC and calls net zero environment targets 'net stupid'.

A Reform UK candidate recently apologised for saying he thought it would have been better if the UK had 'taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality' during the Second World War.

The Green Party is led by Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsey, and they advocate for a pro-environment stance.