Students are being urged to check that they are registered to vote and ensure all their details are correct on the electoral register, amid concerns over polling day falling within university term time.

Local MSP Maree Todd,SNP, said:

“As we only have 5 weeks until election day, it’s important that students firstly check that they are on the electoral register and secondly, where they are registered to vote.

“Statistically, students prefer to vote in their home constituency over their university constituency, and with the election date falling within term time, a postal or proxy vote could be the solution for many.”

The last general election in 2017 saw 75% of students vote in their home constituency over their university constituency, according to YouGov. Whilst it’s legal to be registered to vote in two areas, it is illegal to vote in both.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Tuesday the 26^th of November with the deadline for new postal votes and proxy votes likely to be Wednesday the 27^th of November at 5pm. Emergency proxy votes can be arranged up until 5pm on election day.

You cannot check online if you are registered but for Orkney here are the contact details:

Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)

8 Broad Street, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NX.

Telephone: 01856876222.

Fax: 01856870949.

E Mail: ERO

You can register to vote online click on this link: Register to Vote 

What you need to know

You’ll be asked for your National Insurance number (but you can still register if you do not have one).

After you’ve registered, your name and address will appear on the electoral register. Contact your local Electoral Registration Office to find out if you’re already registered to vote.

Updating your registration

You can also use the ‘Register to vote’ service to:

• change your name, address or nationality
• get on or off the open register

To do this, you need to register again with your new details (even if you’re already registered to vote).

Speaking about the General Election campaign Maree Todd said:

“The SNP are raring to go! I’m looking forward to getting on the campaign trail in the Highlands & Islands and supporting the re-election of my brilliant SNP colleagues and friends. I’m confident that our candidate, Karl Rosie, for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross will run an excellent campaign and win the seat from the Lib Dems.

“This really is the most important election in Scotland’s history. Scotland needs a strong presence in Westminster and an SNP win would do exactly that. We need to escape from Johnson’s botched Brexit deal and secure an independence referendum in 2020 to stop Scotland being dragged out of the EU once and for all.

“We can’t let Boris Johnson cut us off from the world, putting thousands of jobs at stake in the process. It’s time for action not words – let’s use this election to send Westminster a message that we’ve had enough. It’s time to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.”