You must be accurately registered with Elections NWT before you can vote. Voter registration is one method used by Elections NWT to ensure that only eligible northerners are voting.

You are strongly encouraged to register, especially if you have recently:

• turned 18
• moved to or within the territory
• changed your last name (e.g., after marriage)

Please check territorial voter eligibility requirements before trying to register.

How to Register

During an election, you can contact your returning officer to register. Voter registration is also possible at a polling station.  This method of voter registration will slow down the voting experience, but it is still possible. If you are not on the voters list or your registration information is not up to date, you will be asked to take an oath at the polling station. You will also be required to show identification, in an approved form, to verify your name and current address.

Register of Territorial Electors

Elections NWT maintains a voters list in order to protect the integrity of the vote and to make the voting process more accessible. It is our job to ensure that the voters list is as complete and accurate as possible.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer has been granted access to certain types of data in order to maintain the voters list. The Office is continually updating the voters list through access to:

• the National Register of Electors;
• basic information from medical insurance data;
• basic information from Student Financial Assistance data, and
• voter registration data held by municipal or Aboriginal governments

The Elections and Plebiscites Act contains several provisions to ensure the protection and privacy of information. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer takes very seriously the obligation to protect information held in the Register of Territorial Electors. The law demands that only basic personal information (for example, name, date of birth, residential address) be held in the register and that it only be used for the identification of an elector.