Overview
You may receive an email or letter from us inviting you to re-apply for a postal vote.
Following changes introduced by the Elections Act 2022, absent voters (postal, proxy and postal proxy voters) are now required to reapply every 3 years. This helps to ensure the security and accuracy of the absent voter system.
The Elections Act 2022 changed the way everyone must apply for a postal vote for applications received from 31 October 2023. The changes are:
- all postal vote applications must contain your name, address, date of birth, national insurance number and signature
- your identity must be verified against records held by the Department for Work and Pensions. If this identity check fails, you must provide evidence of your identity
- postal votes are now valid for a maximum of three years
If you applied for a permanent postal vote on or before 30 January 2024, your postal vote will expire on 31 January 2026 and you will need to make a new application. The deadline to re-apply is 31 January 2026.
If you do not respond to this request and submit a new application, your postal vote will expire on this date. We will write to you in February 2026 to notify you.