The next general election will be held on 4 July 2024 following the Prime Minister’s announcement.
General elections use the First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system to elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons.
Each voter is registered in a constituency, of which there are eighteen across Northern Ireland.
Registering to vote
To check if you are registered to vote, you can use the Electoral Office’s new ‘Am I Registered’ tool.
If you are not registered, you need to register before 11.59 pm on 18 June.
Find out more about checking if you are on the electoral register or about registering to vote here.
Away on 4th July?
If you won’t be able to attend your polling station to vote, you can register for a postal or proxy vote.
You need to apply before 5 pm on 14 June for your application to be processed in time for the general election.
Find out more here.
How does voting work?
You will receive a polling card before the election which contains information about where you should vote. You don’t need to bring it with you, but it will help polling staff if you do.
Make sure you bring a form of photographic identification when you vote (no need for it to be in date). Your polling card will tell you what forms of ID are acceptable.
Polling stations will be open from 7 am until 10 pm on Thursday 4 July 2024.
When you are given your ballot paper, you will see all the candidates in your constituency.
You place an ‘X’ in the box beside the candidate you wish to vote for.
Make sure not to do anything that could ‘spoil your vote’, don’t write anything else on the ballot paper, just follow the instructions on it to cast your vote.
The candidate with the largest number of votes will be elected as the Member of Parliament for your constituency.
When will the votes be counted?
Once the polls close, the ballot boxes will be taken to counting centres where they will begin counting the votes immediately.
Counting will take place throughout the night until the winner is confirmed.
