Overseas electors

If you are a UK citizen living abroad, you can register to vote for UK Parliamentary General Elections if you have been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years. As part of your application you will be asked the address where you were last registered to vote, and it will be in that area where your vote will be counted.

From January 2024, the 15 year rule will no longer apply.  Further details will appear on this webpage later in the year. 

Register to vote as an overseas elector

You can register to vote online the same way an elector in the UK does. The only difference being that an overseas elector must include their passport details.

An overseas registration lasts for a year so should be renewed annually by re-registering to vote online.

To register to vote you will need your national insurance number and passport details, so please have this to hand before you start.

Register to vote

When you register to vote, by default you will vote at a polling station, until you complete a second application form to inform us which method you wish to vote by.

How to vote from overseas

• Proxy voting: If you are not based in the UK you can appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf. As an overseas elector we would advise that you apply to vote by proxy if possible. Your appointed proxy will need to attend the polling station you were last registered to vote at, so make sure that the person you appoint is familiar with where you would have previously voted. If they wish to, they can however apply to vote by post as a postal proxy voter. They should contact us by emailing elections@chorley.gov.uk or 01257 515132 should they wish to do so.
• Postal vote: If you are registered as an overseas elector you can apply to vote by post. You will need to make sure you have time to receive and return your ballot papers by polling day. If you have opted to vote by postal vote and it does not arrive in time or gets lost in the post, you cannot then change your method of voting. By law, all postal votes must be posted out, we are not allowed to email them to electors.