Postal voting

There have been some recent changes to the process for applying to vote by post. Voters must now complete an identity check as part of the application, this is normally done through the supply of their national insurance number.

Voters can now apply to vote by post online

Please encourage electors to submit their postal vote application online, if they are able to. Online applications are the most reliable way to apply for a postal vote, and are quicker for the team to process. 

If a voter tells you that they can't apply online. They can still complete a paper application. Please ensure that you are using the correct form, as these have recently changed.

Postal vote application form

Applications to vote by post for these polls must be submitted to us by 5pm on Tuesday 21st April.

Anyone that applies for a permanent postal vote after this date will be informed that their postal vote will be set up for future elections but will not apply for the election on 7th May. If possible, they will be encouraged to apply for a proxy vote for this election if they cannot make it to the polling station. 

A postal vote is not set up until the voter receives written confirmation. We may have queries on some of the information provided.

As we have a new print supplier, our postal votes will look a little different this year.

The ballot papers will be attached to the postal voting statement, helping reduce the risk of them being misplaced.

You can watch our video on opening and completing your postal vote. 

We have just under 14,000 existing postal voters for this election. 

The first batch of postal votes will arrive with voters around Friday 17th April, this will include anyone that applied for a postal vote before Wednesday 1st April.

We will then have one issue following this to accommodate for applicants up until the deadline for applications.

If voters have lost or not received their postal vote, they can apply for a reissue but we can’t send the replacement ballot paper until Thursday 30th April.

1. Filling in the ballot papers

Voters will be issued with one or two ballot paper for these polls, dependent on where they live. They will only be able to vote for one candidate on both ballot papers. 

Most voters will only receive one White Essex County Council ballot paper. 

Voters that live in the Broomfield and The Walthams ward of Chelmsford City Council will receive a White Essex County Council ballot paper and a Lilac Chelmsford City Council ballot paper. 

2. Completing the postal voting statement

The postal voting statement is what is used to protect postal voters against fraud. When they are returned to us, we check the date of birth and signature on the postal voting statement matches that which we hold on file for the voter. If it does not, their vote may be rejected.

The key mistakes that we see on postal voting statements are:

• voters of the same household accidentally signing each other’s
• voter’s inputting today's date rather than their date of birth (to help mitigate this, the 19 will be prepopulated in the year for voters born before 2000)
• losing or forgetting to return them

We send out a postal voting quick guide with postal voting packs and include prompts to try and mitigate this. If ballot papers are returned without a statement, they are not immediately rejected. They are placed to one side to allow for the voter to return the postal voting statement later e.g. if they find their statement at home because they have forgotten to put it in the envelope.

3. Returning them to us

Once voters have completed all of the above and are happy to return their vote, they should put their ballot paper(s) in envelope A and their postal voting statement in envelope B (ensuring that the return address on the back of the postal voting statement is visible through the window) and post them back to us.

If the postal vote is returned and the ballot papers aren’t in envelope A, they will still be accepted. This measure is only taken to ensure that their statement and ballot papers are separate, and their vote remains private.

Postal votes can be returned to us via Royal Mail or in person at the Civic Centre or one of our polling stations.

Anyone returning postal votes in person must complete a postal vote handling form. This is a new requirement that was first implemented in May 2024, so we would be grateful if you could help us spread this information.

The postal vote handing forms will be supplied by staff at the Civic Centre or polling station. 

An individual is limited to handing in up to five postal votes, plus their own.

If possible, we encourage voters to use the Royal Mail Priority Boxes, as detailed on the postal voting guide. You can find your nearest one on the Royal Mail website.

Postal votes must be returned to us by 10pm on polling day.

Candidates or their campaigners should never handle other peoples postal votes, even if they ask you to return them to us for them (this excludes close family or those you are responsible for caring for).

There is a code of conduct  around candidates and any election campaigners regarding how they interact with electors, to ensure that they do not intimidate or influence them. Sometimes people can do this unintentionally!

With this in mind, we recommend that you advise them to follow the postal voting guide provided. You or your campaigners should not handle someones postal vote, or offer to return it for them.

Voters can call us on: 01245 606 449 for help with completing their postal vote pack, requesting alternative formats and any necessary re-issues.

We open and check the postal votes ahead of the count so that the ballot papers are ready to be verified alongside those who have voted in polling stations.

This is done over a series of sessions at the Civic Centre, starting at 10am on the following dates:

There will also be a session held at the count to account for any postal votes returned late to polling stations. 

You are entitled to come and observe these sessions, or to appoint agents to observe on your behalf.

If one of your campaigners, other than the candidate or their agent arrives to observe without having been appointed as a postal voting agent, they will be refused entry.

You can view the process followed at postal vote opening sessions.

We would advise that you book if you wish to observe one of these sessions, but you do not have to.

Ballot papers are handled face down as to ensure that the secrecy of the ballot is maintained, and you must not interfere with the process. You can object to a rejection of a ballot paper and ask reasonable questions.

Anyone that is present at a postal vote opening session must be reminded of the secrecy requirements.

Each day we record the number of postal voting packs that we receive as well as the number of postal voting ballot papers that have been verified and prepared for counting. 

The number of postal votes received and passed to the count each day will unlikely be the same for a few reasons:

• Postal voting packs are processed in bundles of 50, so any packs that do not make up a full bundle of 50 are left for the following day.
• Some postal voting packs are provisionally rejected where the voter has not returned either their statement or ballot paper. These are put to one side to see if the paperwork is returned.
• Some postal voting ballot papers have to be rejected as the personal identifiers (signature and date of birth) do not match the details on our records for the voter. 

The daily totals will be published here.