How students can register to vote in their home town or at university – and why it matters

Boris Johnson has got his way: voters will go to the polls on 12 December in the UK’s third general election in four years.

The date of the poll was highly contentious, with the opposition parties seeking to bring it forward to 9 December – a difference of only three days, but a potentially significant one nonetheless.

Why? Because of the potential impact on students.

No. 10 has been accused of choosing the date in a deliberate attempt to suppress turnout among students, who typically are far less likely to vote Conservative.

That is because most university terms end the week of the election, meaning many students will be travelling home around polling day.

They will, therefore, need to think ahead in order to ensure they are able to vote.

The first step is registering to vote. Students are legally entitled to register at both their university and their home address, providing they only actually vote at one address (voting twice in a general election is a criminal offence).

Students should, therefore, register to vote at both addresses in order to ensure they are not disenfranchised and can decide nearer the time where they will vote.

Registering takes a matter of seconds and can be done online here.

Many students prefer to choose the area that is most marginal and where their ballot will, therefore, have more chance of making a difference.

When they register, they can apply for either a postal vote or a proxy vote to ensure that, even if they are not physically in that area on polling day, they can still cast a vote there.

According to YouGov, just 25 per cent of students voted at their university address in the 2017 election, which was held in term time. An election right at the end of term is likely to push that number even lower.

So why did the Liberal Democrats and Labour pushed for the election to be three days earlier, on 9 December?

Partly this is because of the number of swing seats in university towns.

If students vote in their university areas, rather than at their home address, left-wing parties would expect to see a major boost in university towns that would simply not exist not if students had already gone home for Christmas.

In Canterbury, for example, a strong turnout among students in 2017 helped switch the former Tory stronghold to Labour, albeit it with a majority of just 187. Incumbent Labour MP Rosie Duffield will need the same to happen this time around if she is to retain the seat.

Other university seats where students will be key to deciding the result include Southampton Itchen (held by the Tories with a majority 31), and Newcastle-under-Lyme (held by Labour with a majority of 30). If the left-wing parties are to win or retain seats like these, they will need student turnout to be high.

The closer to the end of term the election is, the greater the risk of that not happening, because students will either have headed home or be caught up with Christmas parties or end-of-term work deadlines.

That is why student groups are expected to launch a blitz to get students to register to vote. While the Conservatives may have wanted to suppress the student vote, they will succeed only if students themselves fail to register to take part in an election likely to shape Britain for years to come.