Postal Voting
From November 2023, the law changed for postal voting in England.
Changes apply to:
- UK Parliamentary elections, including by-elections and recall petitions
- Local elections
- Police and Crime Commissioner elections
The changes brought in by the new legislation are:
- You can now apply online to vote by post, you can do this by clicking here
- If you apply for a postal vote, you will need to prove your identity as part of the application process
- Successful applications to vote by post will be in place for a maximum of three years, electors will have to reapply to keep voting by post and will be contacted several months before an expiry date is due.
From 2 May 2024, there will be restrictions on the handing in of postal votes at polling stations and at the Council Offices:
- there will be a limit on the number of postal votes a person can hand in at a polling station or at the council offices.
- you will not be allowed to hand in more than five postal ballot packs for other electors plus your own (6 in total) for each relevant election
- if a person hands in more than five postal ballot packs for other electors, all the postal votes (other than their own) will be rejected
- anyone handing in postal votes will need to complete a ‘return of postal voting documents’ form
- we can no longer accept postal votes left in the letterbox at the council offices
- any postal votes which are left at any council building or polling station without the ‘return of postal voting documents’ form being completed will be rejected
- Campaigners can only hand in their own postal vote and postal votes for close family members (spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child or grandchild. This includes two people who live together as if they were married or civil partners) and/or people for whom they regularly provide care.
Proxy Voting
From November 2023, the law changed for proxy voting in England.
Changes apply to:
- UK Parliamentary elections, including by-elections and recall petitions
- Local elections
- Police and Crime Commissioner elections
The changes brought in by the new legislation are:
- You can now apply online for some types of proxy vote, where someone votes on your behalf. You can apply online here.
- If you apply for a proxy vote, you will need to prove your identity as part of the application process
- Successful applications to vote by proxy will be in place for a maximum of five years, electors will have to refresh their signature to keep voting by proxy and will be contacted several months before a signature refresh date is due.
- A limit on the number of people a person can be proxy for. The person you choose to act as your proxy must be registered to vote, must be eligible to vote in the election and must not be acting as a proxy for more than 4 people, of which no more than 2 can be for domestic electors.