Completing the application

How you apply for a postal vote has now changed. You must now have your identity verified before we can grant a postal vote. To do this, you need to provide your National Insurance Number which will be used (along with your name and date of birth) to compare against Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) records. This is similar to the process when you register to vote.

If you do not have your National Insurance Number, or if your details do not match against those held by the DWP, then you will be asked to provide further documentary evidence to verify your identity. This can however delay the process.

You need to provide your date of birth and signature on the application. These Identifiers are checked against the same personal identifiers you provide when you return your postal vote. This is to ensure that only you can use the postal vote which was sent to you.

You can now apply for a postal vote online.

If you apply online, you will need to upload a copy or image of your signature. To ensure that is accepted, and to make sure it can be matched against the one returned with your postal vote, it should be completed in a dark (preferably black) pen against a white (or very pale) plain background.

After you’ve sent your application

Once the application has been processed, we will send you a letter confirming your postal vote has been accepted. You must check this letter carefully. It’s your responsibility to make sure that all the details are correct. You should contact the elections office immediately if you find something wrong.

If you apply close to the deadline you will receive this confirmation letter sooner than your postal vote.

Personal identifiers

All personal identifiers (personal details) collected upon application for a postal vote will be held securely by us, and will not be used for any purposes other than checking against your Postal Voter’s Statement.

If your postal vote is rejected at an election because the personal identifiers on your Postal Voter’s Statement do not match the one on your original application, we will write to you to let you know after the election. Where there is a discrepancy in the signatures provided, we will give you the opportunity to update the signature we hold for you, to try and prevent this from happening again.

Page last updated: 31 October 2023