You need to register to vote. Your name and address will then appear on the electoral register.

If you are on the electoral register you will receive a poll card a few weeks before the election. You can still vote without a poll card, but it makes things easier if you have it with you.

Your poll card will tell you the opening times and location of your polling station.

You can vote:

• in person, with your poll card
• by postal vote
• by proxy vote (getting someone else to vote for you)

Voting ages
You can register to vote when you're

• 16 years old in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• 14 years old in Scotland

You can vote when you're

• 18 years old in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• 16 years old in Scotland

Why Vote?
Elections are where you vote for the people who will make the decisions that affect you every day. These could be decisions about local issues such as your bin collection, national issues like healthcare, or global issues like defence. It is important to vote because otherwise your opinion will not be heard.

In the UK, you can choose whether you vote. If you do not vote, you are letting other people make decisions about issues that affect you.

Who can vote?
To be able to vote in Bracknell Forest, you need to:

• be 18 years of age
• normally live at an address in Bracknell Forest
• be a British, Irish, Commonwealth or European Union (EU) citizen

EU citizens can vote at local elections and European Parliamentary elections only. They cannot vote at UK Parliamentary elections.

Foreign nationals
If you are a foreign national and wish to see if you are eligible to register, please check against the list of eligible nationalities.

British citizens living abroad
British citizens living abroad can vote at UK and European Parliamentary elections but not local government elections.

If you were registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years, you can apply to be an overseas voter. You must apply to the last council with whom you were registered before moving abroad.

If you were too young to register when you left the UK, your parent or guardian must have been registered.

For more information and to register to vote, visit Your Vote Matters - overseas.

Service personnel and their spouse
Service personnel and their spouse can register:

• annually as an ordinary voter
• by a service declaration (these last 3 years)

For more information and to register to vote, visit Your Vote Matters - service voters.

Crown servants or British Council employees
Crown servants or British Council employees working outside the UK can still register to vote. The spouse accompanying them during their employment abroad can also register under these arrangements.

For more information and to register to vote, visit Your Vote Matters - apply to vote by proxy.

Homeless people
Homeless people may register at the address or place where they spend a large part of their time either during the day or at night.

To register to vote, please download the paper voter registration forms from GOV.UK.

Remand prisoners
Remand prisoners may register at the institution where they are currently resident or at the address they would have been resident or have previously lived.

Mental health patients
Mental health patients, either voluntary or detained (but not those detained for criminal activity) may register at the institution where they are currently resident or at the address they would have been resident or have previously lived.