Almost a third of the 316,264 voter registration applications submitted in the last two days have been from voters aged under 25, according to government figures.

Young voters rushed to send almost 45,000 applications on Tuesday after the announcement of a snap general election on 12 December. This increased to 59,000 on Wednesday, with both days marking a significant surge on the 13,109 applications sent on Monday, and the 4,981 applications the day before that.

The total number of applications marked the highest and second highest number of applications submitted on any day of 2019. Almost 140,000 registrations were counted on Tuesday and more than 170,000 were received on Wednesday.

Q&A How do I register to vote in the 2019 general election? Show If you want to vote in the general election on 12 December but haven’t yet registered – bad news. It is too late. However, you can still register online so you don’t miss out next time. And let’s face it, if the election results ends up being close, we could be having another one sooner than you think. Here’s how to get yourself registered for next time. To vote in a UK general election you must: Be 18 or over on the day of the election.

Be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen.

Be resident at an address in the UK (or a British citizen living abroad who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years).

Not be legally excluded from voting. You also need to be on the electoral register. You only have to register once, but will need to re-register if you have changed your address, name or nationality. The forms can be completed online. You may need details of your national insurance number and your passport if you’re a British citizen living abroad, and want to vote in England, Scotland or Wales. If you need help, you should contact your local Electoral Registration Office. You can use this service to find the address if you live in England, Scotland or Wales. If you live in Northern Ireland you need to contact the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI).

About 65% of applications came from people under 35, while only 4% of those registering were aged 65 and over. Some applications may have been from people already registered to vote.

However, Willie Sullivan, a senior director at the Electoral Reform Society, said 9.4 million people were still missing from the electoral roll. “There’s a long way to go before we close the registration gap,” he said, adding that there remained large disproportions between different social and economic groups who register to vote.

“Younger people and renters are most at risk of being missing from the register, so it’s welcome to see this surge in registrations from the ‘missing millions’.”

Sullivan said the registration process needed urgently improving across the country to avoid similar scrambles to register.

“It’s an annoying reality that many of these applications will be already on the register, since there’s no way to check online if you are already registered. Let’s make this the last time we see a manic registration rush – putting strain on local electoral offices.

“We cannot be complacent – this election must see the biggest registration drive this country has seen to ensure it genuinely represents all of us.”

The final date for registering to vote is 26 November.