WITH UK elections due in the coming months it’s vital that Army personnel, spouses, civil partners and eligible children are correctly registered to vote. If eligible, there are several registration options depending on factors such as age, nationality and residence status:
- Ordinary voter: for those based in the UK with a stable address (uk/ register-to-vote);
- Service voter: for those based overseas, or expecting to be deployed with no long-term base. A service declaration lasts five years (gov.uk/register-to-vote-armed-forces)
Reservists and some adult children are not eligible to register as service voters. They should either register as ordinary or overseas voters. This may affect those who are attending university in the UK, and rules differ across the devolved nations.
Whilst voting is a personal matter, the Ministry of Defence offers the following support:
- Unit registration officers to advise families.
- Registration
- Personnel can update their JPA file to record voter registration
Visit electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter or see aff.org.uk for more details.