Registers are created and maintained by borough councils.

The first registers of voters were lists of those owing land tax, since the right to vote depended on the amount of property a man owned.

It was not until the 1832 Reform Act that the creation of electoral registers became a requirement. At first these were the responsibility of the Quarter Sessions, although from 1888 they were compiled by County Councils and from 1974 by District Councils. The registers mainly list those eligible to vote for parliamentary elections although they often double as lists for local government elections.