How to apply for, renew or cancel your postal vote
If you're unable to get to your local polling station on the day of an election you can vote by post.
Anyone who's registered to vote can apply for a postal vote, so long as you're aged 18 or over.
Each person requiring a postal vote must apply separately.
You can apply for a postal vote:
- for 1 election
- for a set period of time
- for the maximum period (up to 3 years)
You'll need to provide a signature when you apply for a postal vote online. It must match the one you use when you vote by post, so it's important it looks the same each time.
Apply for a postal vote
Apply for a postal vote on GOV.UK
You can also renew your postal vote via the application page above.
If you live abroad
If you live abroad, you should consider appointing a proxy to vote on your behalf, as there may not be enough time for postal votes to reach you and be sent back before the poll closes.
Your proxy must either apply for a postal vote or be able to vote at your usual polling station.
After you've applied
We'll confirm that your postal vote application has been successful, there may not always be enough time to do this just before an election.
Where possible, we'll send your postal voting papers around 2 weeks before the election.
Renew your postal vote
The Election Act 2022 brought in new rules for postal votes.
- All applications must include your name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and signature.
- When you apply, your identity is checked against information held by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). In some instances, this check fails and you'll be asked to supply evidence of your identity.
- Postal votes are valid for a maximum of 3 years.
You can renew your postal vote online. If you applied for a postal vote on or before 30 January 2024, you'll need to re-apply by 31 January 2026. If you don't re-apply, your postal vote will expire.
If you're affected by this change, we'll contact you in Autumn with details of how to reapply. If we have your email address, we'll contact you through the government notification service.
How to cancel your postal vote
If you want to cancel your postal vote we must receive a request in writing, stating:
- your name
- your address
- you want to cancel your postal vote
If you want to cancel your postal vote, email postalvotes@bristol.gov.uk
If you want to cancel your postal vote close to the time of an election there will be a deadline for when we must receive this request. More details will be available on the web page for the election.
How to vote by post
The Election Act 2022 legislation regulates how postal votes can be returned. The new rules mean we cannot accept postal votes handed in at council offices.
You can mail your postal votes if there is enough time, or you can take them to your polling station on election day.
If you need to take postal votes to your polling station, you'll also need to fill in a form. Someone in the polling station will be able to help you with this.
Your postal vote must reach us by 10pm on polling day.
Privacy notice
Read our privacy statement and our pdf Electoral Services privacy notice(179 KB) to see what we do with your personal information.