London Elections 2024: Getting your voice heard

On Thursday 2nd May, Londoners will decide who the next Mayor of London will be, as well as Members of the London Assembly.

To ensure you’re able to cast your vote, there are certain steps you must take before and on election day – some of these have been introduced for the first time.

We want to ensure that as many older Londoners as possible have their voices heard. Below are a few short guides on registering to vote, making sure you have an accepted form of photo ID, as well as different methods of voting.

If you would like to find out more about the elections, please visit: https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter

Registering to vote

To be able to vote in the upcoming elections, you’ll need to register to vote. You can do this at any time, but it’s advised that you register at least two weeks ahead of the election date. In the case of the 2nd May London elections, the deadline to register is midnight, Tuesday 16th April.

To be eligible to vote in the May elections, you’ll need to meet the following criteria:

be 18 or over on the day of the election (‘polling day’)
be a British citizen, or an Irish, Commonwealth or EU citizen who lives in the UK
be resident at an address in Greater London
not be legally excluded from voting

You can register online by following this link https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Bringing Photo ID

The biggest change to voting in this year’s elections is the requirement to present an accepted form of photo ID at the polling station, on the day of the election.

Below is a list of accepted photo ID:

A UK passport
A passport from a country in the EEA or Commonwealth
Driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state (this includes a provisional driving licence)
An Older Person’s Bus Pass
A Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
A Freedom Pass
A 60+ Oyster Card
A biometric immigration document
A Blue Badge
A Voter Authority Certificate
A PASS identity card
A Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
National identity card issues in an EEA country.

Your form of photo ID can still be presented at the polling station if it’s past its expiry date, so long as the photo reasonably resembles you. It’s important to note that whether the photo resembles will be decided by polling station staff.

Voter Authority Certificates

You may find that you don’t hold one of the accepted forms of photo ID, or that the photo no longer resembles you. In this case, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate. This needs to be done by 5pm, six working days prior to the election. For this year’s London elections, this will be Wednesday 24th April.

You can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate online by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

You will need to provide:

A photo of yourself
Your date of birth
Your National Insurance number

Voting by post

Alternatively, you can vote by post. In this case, you will not need to present a form of photo ID or a Voter Authority Certificate. You can register for a postal vote by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote

To register for a postal vote, you will need the following:

The address where you are registered to vote
Your National Insurance number or other identity documents, for example a passport
The specific date of the election or referendum you want to make a postal vote, if you only want a one-off postal vote

You’ll also need to upload a photo of your handwritten signature in black ink on plain white paper.

The deadline to register for a postal vote is 5pm, 11 working days ahead of the election. For this year’s London elections, this will be Wednedsay 17th April.

Voting by proxy

There are a few ways you can cast your ballot on election day. The most popular method is to vote in-person at your nearest polling station.

If you’d prefer not to cast your ballot in-person, you can nominate someone to vote for you by proxy. To register for a proxy vote, follow this link https://www.gov.uk/apply-proxy-vote.

To register for a proxy vote, you will need your proxy voter’s permission, as well as:

Your national insurance number
The address in which your proxy voter is registered to vote
Your proxy voter’s contact details
A photo of your handwritten signature

It’s important for your proxy voter to remember that, when they arrive at the polling station, they will have to present an accepted form of photo ID of themself – not of you.

The deadline to register for a proxy vote is 5pm, six working days ahead of the election. For this year’s London elections, this will be Wednesday 24th April.

Changes to the voting system

Another big change to this year’s London Mayoral election is its voting system. Previously, the London Mayoral election used a supplementary vote system, where you’d indicate a first and second preference candidate.

From this year, the Mayoral election will use first-past-the-post. This will be your pink ballot paper – simply mark an ‘X’ next to one candidate only. It’s important to remember that, should you accidentally indicate multiple preferences on your pink ballot paper, your vote may not count.

When it comes to voting for the London Assembly, however, the voting system is unchanged. You'll mark a single ‘X’ next to your preferred constituency candidate on your yellow ballot paper, and a single ‘X’ next to your preferred London-wide candidate on your orange ballot paper.