General Election postal votes
If you have not received your postal vote for the General Election on 4 July 2024, please call us on 01305 838299 so that a replacement can be issued.
The Government is making big changes to the way elections are run and how we vote. The changes are set out in the Elections Act 2022.
One of the biggest changes is that you now need to show photo identification (ID), such as a passport or driving licence, when you go to vote at a polling station.
Not all of the changes have been announced yet, so this page is a summary of what we know so far. As and when further information becomes available, we will update this page.
You can find out more about the Elections Act 2022 on the Government website.
Voters in England need to show photo ID when they vote in person at a polling station.
This applies to:
View a list of list of acceptable photo ID documents.
If you have an accepted form of photo ID but it has expired it can still be used, as long as the photo is still a good likeness of you.
If you do not have any of the photo ID listed, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate (this is a photo identity document specifically for the purpose of voting).
Read more about the requirement to show photo ID when you vote in person at a polling station.
Absent voting enables you to vote in an election if you cannot get to the polling station. There are currently two types of absent voting – postal voting and proxy voting.
The proposed changes, which took effect in May 2023, make it easier for disabled voters to vote, with disabled voters given extra support at polling stations and anyone over the age of 18 able to accompany a disabled voter.
Find out more about the range of support we provide for disabled voters.
EU citizens will no longer automatically be entitled to register, vote or stand for election.
Two groups of EU citizens will keep these rights:
These changes, which are expected to take effect after the May 2024 elections, will apply to all local elections and referendums in England, all elections for council and combined authority mayors, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
On 16 January 2024, changes to voting rights for British citizens living overseas came into force. The 15 year limit on voting rights for British citizens living overseas was abolished, meaning that British citizens living overseas can now register for life.
Any British citizen living abroad who has previously lived in, or been registered to vote in the UK, now has the right to vote at UK Parliamentary elections. These voters will be registered at the constituency where they were last registered to vote, or where they lived if they were not registered to vote before. British citizens living abroad will no longer have to register as an overseas voter every year. Instead, they will have to renew their registration every 3 years.
If you are a UK citizen living abroad, you can apply to be an overseas elector. This means you can cast your vote in UK elections and referendums whilst still living in another country.
A "supplementary vote system" was previously in place for the following elections:
From May 2023, this changed to a simple majority voting system, also known as "first past the post". In "first past the post" voting, you only vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins. Candidates no longer need to get a certain number of votes; they just have to get more than any other candidate.