If you want to vote in the 6 May general election and you are not already registered to vote then you have to get moving today. The process of registering is much easier this time around than in previous elections – you can get the form online and the deadline for registration was extended to beyond the official announcement of the campaign, but you need to get a signed form in the first class post today to meet the 20 April cut-off date.
The Electoral Commission's aboutmyvote.co.uk website is where you go to get the form. You enter your current address, a previous address you may have been registered to vote at, then your name and nationality. You then print the form, sign it and post it.
It's really easy.
If you are not sure if you are registered you can check that too at the Electoral Commission site.
My colleague Haroon Siddique has also been looking into how this affects people stranded by the Icelandic volcano. This is what he says:
A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said extending the voter registration deadline because of the volcanic ash cloud was not an option as the date was laid down by statute in parliament. She advised voters worried that they may not be able to return to the UK before election day to register for a proxy vote.
There is one week left to register for a proxy vote but you must already be on the electoral roll.
