Shape your future beyond Buckingham.
There will be a UK General Election on 4th July 2024.
Polling will open at 7am on Thursday the 4th of July.
Why does this matter to students? Our future will be built by the students and young people of today. But only if they Turn Up and make their vote count at elections.
When politicians make decisions, they look at who is on the electoral register and who votes. So it is crucial that all young people and students are registered to vote.
There are new barriers that will make it harder for students and young people to vote. It is now illegal for unis and colleges to block register students, and all voters will have to show a physical photo ID when they vote.
What you need to know:
What is a General Election?
General elections give those aged 18 and above a chance to vote for who they’d like to run the country. They happen every five years in the UK and voting takes place on one day.
Voting is carried out in constituencies (constituencies are voters in a specified area of the country who elect a parliamentary candidate) and the UK is divided into 650 constituencies. Each constituency has a Member of Parliament (MP) who belongs to a political party, and who represents them in the House of Commons.
In the UK, a system called ‘first past the post’ is used. This means that the candidate that gets the most votes, becomes the MP for that area and gains a seat in the House of Commons. To win the general election, a political party must reach 326 elected MPs. The leader of that political party then becomes our Prime Minister.
When is the deadline to register to Vote?
If you are eligible, you must register to vote by June 18th (or June 19th if you want to apply for a Postal Vote). It takes just 5 minutes and you’ll need your national insurance number.
Register to Vote here.
Why Vote?
It gives you the opportunity to have your say in who leads the country, who will make decisions that impact you and who will represent you.
Our future will be built by students and young people of today, but only if they are heard. Voting gives power, influence and a stake in society.
There’s a lot going on at the moment, and this election will determine how the government approaches issues that will directly impact you as students including:
- Housing
- Equality
- International students’ rights
- Education funding and quality
- Access to education
- Job market
- Mental health services
- Climate crisis
And so much more.
What you need to Vote:
To vote in England, you now need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations in elections.
This applies at:
- UK parliamentary elections, including general elections, by-elections and recall petitions
- Local elections and by-elections
- Police and Crime Commissioner elections
Students can get a FREE Voter ID from CitizenCard using the code 'NUS'! The deadline to apply for this is the 20th of June.
If you miss this, the FINAL deadline to apply for a
Voter Authority Certificate to vote in the general election is
5pm on Wednesday 26 June.
What counts as Photo ID at Elections?
You can find a full list of accepted voter IDs in each UK nation via the Electoral Commission here. These include: Passport, Driving licence, Blue Badge, PASS card, Voter Authority Certificate and more.
The photo ID needs to be the original version and not a photocopy.
You can still use your photo ID if it's out of date, as long as it looks like you. The name on your ID should be the same name you used to register to vote.
Where do I vote and how?
You can easily find your polling station here: Where Do I Vote?