These record the names of people who were registered to vote. However, just as today, not everyone who was eligible to vote got round to registering.
They are arranged by electoral division, polling district and then alphabetically, either by street or by voter.
They were published for national elections from 1832 onwards. No registers were compiled at all between 1916-17 and 1940-44.
There are separate volumes for each electoral division per year or half year. The period during which each register was effective varied.
Maps are available in the NRO and NHC searchrooms showing electoral divisions at different dates.
The ‘Parish Key’ (NRO and NHC) will also tell you which division a particular parish was in at a particular date.
The county was divided into the following electoral divisions:
The following provides a summary list of electoral registers held by the NRO with the main document references to use on the catalogue:
The NHC holds copies of electoral registers as follows:
Please note that the NHC does not hold any electoral registers after 2003 and current copies can be accessed at the relevant district council offices.
King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth libraries hold some poll books and electoral registers for their own areas. Please contact them for more details.
National collections of electoral registers are held at the British Library.
Some Norfolk electoral registers can also be accessed via FamilySearch.
Some more recent electoral registers (2002 onwards) can be searched on the subscription-based site 192.com.