Electoral registers are normally kept by local libraries. Be aware though that the survival of older ones is somewhat patchy. The National Archives Resource Centre and Library has some registers between 1874 and 1876. The best introduction to these records is Jeremy Gibson's Electoral Registers since 1832 (2nd edition, Federation of Family History Societies, 1990).

Registers are arranged by street within ward or polling district and therefore are not arranged by surname order, although there is often an index identifying wards streets are in. The reasons for having the vote are generally marked on the registers by a series of abbreviations. The meaning of these abbreviations should be given at the beginning of each register.

Before 1872 the way electors voted was recorded in Poll Books. A list of surviving poll books is given in Jeremy Gibson's and Colin Rogers', Poll Books c. 1695-1872: A Directory to Holdings in Great Britain (3rd edition, Federation of Family History Societies, 1994). The Society of Genealogists has a reasonable collection; otherwise they can be difficult to trace. The National Archives's Resource Centre and Library also has a number of volumes.