‘Homeless, Not Voiceless’ Information On Voting

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As we all know, there will be a general election in the UK on 12 December 2019. But can homeless people vote?

The homeless charity Crisis has published some crucial information on helping the homeless to exercise their democratic right to vote. Firstly, to vote in the general election you must be registered to vote by 26 November 2019. You can register to vote in the UK if you are:

  • resident (usually live in the UK), and
  • aged 16 or over, but you will not be able to vote until you are 18 (except in Scotland, where the voting age will be 16 in some elections).
  • You must also be either:
    • a British or Irish citizen; or
    • a Commonwealth citizen who has leave to remain in the UK or who does not require leave to remain in the UK; or
    • an EU citizen.

You can register to vote even if you are homeless or don’t have a fixed address. You can use the address of somewhere you spend a lot of your time, like a day centre or night shelter, a friend’s place or somewhere outdoors.

You can register from an address where you would be living if it were not for your current circumstances, or an address where you are staying temporarily or have lived at in the past.

You can give details of where you spend a lot of your time (during the day or night). This might be a day service, night shelter, or an address nearest to, for example, a park bench, a bus shelter or the doorway to a high-street store.

Why should you register to vote?

  • You have to be registered to vote so you can vote in elections and referendums.
  • You can be fined if you are asked to register to vote and fail to do so without valid reason.
  • Being on the electoral register could help improve your credit rating.

In some circumstances, you can register to vote anonymously. For example, if you’re concerned about your safety. Your details won’t appear on either version of the electoral register if you register anonymously. Convicted prisoners can’t vote in any election, but those on remand and civil prisoners can vote if they are on the register.

For more information go to www.crisis.org.uk