Voting by post

Only electors who are (or will be) registered individually are entitled to apply for a postal vote.

Before you apply

Please note the following information about voting by post:

your postal vote can be sent to your home address or any other address you specify
you will need to provide a reason if you want your postal vote forwarded to a different address from where you are registered to vote
your postal vote can be sent overseas, but you need to consider whether there would be time to receive and return your ballot paper by polling day
your postal vote will usually be dispatched around 10 days before polling day
if you have been sent a postal vote, you cannot vote at a polling station
your postal vote should be posted back to us, or returned by hand to either our offices or a polling station within your ward or constituency
your postal vote must reach us by 10pm on polling day for your vote to count

You will need:

the address where you are registered to vote
your National Insurance number or other identity documents, for example a passport
the specific date of the election or referendum you want to make a postal vote, if you only want a one-off postal vote

You will also need to upload a photo of your handwritten signature in black ink on plain white paper.

If you cannot provide a signature or one that always looks the same, you may be able to apply for a postal vote signature waiver within the service.

You might be asked for extra documents to identify you.