National Voter Registration Day 2015: How to register your vote for the general election in May

If you don't register, you can't vote

MPs also urged ministers to look at other ways of encouraging people to vote (Getty Images)

Today the Bite the Ballot campaign group is leading the push to get voters registered ahead of the general election.

The Government’s Electoral Commission is fully supporting National Voter Registration Day 2015, when the group hopes to get at least 250,000 people to sign up.

They are giving people four different ways to help out with the big push today on their website – but the best and easiest way you can contribute is by registering to vote yourself.

The process is simple – if you are 16 or over you can register through the Government website, www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

You’ll need your National Insurance number, and the registration process takes around five minutes. It can also be done by post.

This will be the first general election in British history where you are allowed to register online – and it is also the first time that every single voter has to sign up for themselves.

In the past, a member of a household could sign up everyone who lived there – and critics say there is a danger many simply won’t realise they are no longer on the list.

If you don’t register, you won’t be able to vote on 7 May. To find out more, speak to your local electoral registration officer or read more on the Government’s website here.