Postal and Proxy Voting

Postal voting

You can apply for a postal vote if you are unable to go to your Polling Station on election day, or simply if you prefer to vote by post.

The quickest and easiest way to now apply for a postal vote is online at the gov.uk online absent voting portal:

The deadline for receipt of postal vote applications is 5pm, 11 working days before the day of an election.

You can apply for a postal vote:

• for a single election on a specific date
• for a specific period
• for the maximum period (up to three years)

We must collect ‘personal identifiers’ from all postal voters. These identifiers (which include signature, National Insurance Number, and date of birth) are used to verify identities and check postal votes cast at election time, in an attempt to prevent and detect electoral fraud and to protect your vote.

Further information, including applications that can be downloaded are available on the Electoral Commissioner website.

If you need to speak to a member of the Electoral Services team or require an application to be sent to your address, please contact the team using the contact details below.

Proxy voting

Proxy voting means that if you cannot vote in person, you can have someone you trust, vote on your behalf. To vote by proxy, both you and your proxy must be registered and eligible to vote. A proxy can vote for a maximum of 4 people. No more than 2 of those people can be domestic electors. Domestic electors are voters who are neither overseas voters nor service voters.

The deadline for receipt of proxy vote applications is 5pm, six working days before the day of an election.

If you are applying to vote by proxy for a particular election, the quickest and easiest way to apply is online at the gov.uk online absent voting portal.

You will need to provide your date of birth, National Insurance number and signature on your application form:

If you won’t be able to go to the polling station for the foreseeable future, or a long period of time, please visit the Electoral Commission website for forms that can be downloaded and completed based on your circumstances.

Should you need to speak to a member of the Electoral Services Team or require an application to be sent to your address, please contact the Team using the contact details below.

Completed paper postal and proxy applications can be scanned and emailed or posted to us using the details below.