How to vote as a Live-Aboard Boater

With the General Election announced for Thursday 4th July, it’s important for everyone to register to vote by the deadline of

23.59 Tuesday 18 June.

There are two ways to do so as a live-aboard boater:

If you live on a boat and you have a permanent mooring which you use as an address, you can register to vote there.

Register to vote on the government website

If you don’t have a permanent mooring you can use as an address, you can choose to register at either:

• a place where you spend most of your time
• or where have some connection e.g where your family or friends live
  

You could register at the place where you were last permanently registered to vote. Alternatively, you could register at somewhere like the boatyard you use for maintenance for example. It’s worth bearing in mind that if the address you use to register to vote is not the same as the one you use for banking this could impact your credit rating.

To register to vote in this way, you’ll need to download and complete a form for someone with no fixed or permanent address.

Download register to vote form

Filling in your form
The application form includes instructions on how to fill it in correctly.

When you fill in the form, you’ll be able to say how you want to receive information about your registration. You can collect it from the electoral services team at the local council for the address you’re registering at, or have it delivered to an address you provide.

Where to send your completed form
Once you have completed the form and made sure you have signed it, you need to send it to the electoral services team at the local council for the address you’re registering at.

You can send your form by post. The electoral services team at your local council may also accept a scanned copy of your form by email, but you should check with them first.

Don’t forget you now need need Photo ID to vote, but it doesn’t need to match your address, just your name. Find out more here.

Postal and Proxy Voting

These methods can be useful if you are unable to get to the polling station where you are registered. The deadlines for these are: