Voting by Post or Proxy
Postal Voting
Postal Voting Form
If you want to vote by post you must give the full address to
which your ballot paper should be sent. This can either be your
current registered address or an alternative address if you are
going to be away during the election period. Whilst this address
can be anywhere worldwide, the tight timescale under which
elections are run does not always leave enough time for postal
ballot papers to be delivered, completed and returned if the
delivery address is outside of the EU.
Please ensure that you have completed the date of birth field
and that the form is signed and dated before returning the address
below.
Proxy Voting
Proxy Voting Form
If you apply to vote by proxy and your application is accepted,
the person you want to vote on your behalf (your proxy) will
receive a 'proxy paper' which allows them to vote for you at your
polling station on election day.
If you want to appoint a proxy to vote for you, they must
be:
- willing to vote on your behalf
- a British citizen or citizen of the Commonwealth or Republic of
Ireland; or for local government and European Parliamentary
elections, a citizen of the European Union
- old enough to vote and legally allowed to vote
A proxy may not vote at the same election for more than two
people unless they are a close relative (husband, wife, parent,
grandparent, brother, sister or grandchild) of the people they are
voting for. Your proxy does not necessarily have to sign the form.
As long as you have consulted them and they have confirmed that
they can and will be your proxy, only you need to sign the
form.
If you require a proxy vote for one election only (for example
if you will away on the date of the election) please complete the
form below.
Proxy Voting Form - Single Occasion
In all cases please ensure you have completed the date of birth
field and the form is signed and dated before it is returned to
Electoral Services.
Absent Vote Signature Refresh - January 2012
Absent Voters (i.e. those who vote by post) are required to
provide a signature and date of birth when they first apply.
When you are sent your postal vote
for an election you are required to provide your signature and date
of birth on a postal voting statement. These 'personal identifiers'
are checked against those you provided on your original postal vote
application form, to ensure that they match. This is to prevent
someone else from using your vote. If they do not match, your vote
cannot be counted. Your personal identifiers are always kept
separate from your ballot paper, so no-one knows how you have
voted.
An important part of these security
measures is providing a fresh specimen signature every 5 years,
since people's signatures and circumstances can change over time.
The legislation requires the Electoral Registration Officer to
carry out the first annual refresh of signatures by 31
January 2012 in order to ensure that the signatures for as
many absent voters as possible are refreshed, producing as accurate
a record as possible and potentially limiting the number of postal
votes that are rejected due to mismatched identifiers.
This Absent Vote signature
refresh exercise will be undertaken every January for those absent
voters whose applications are 5 years old and, therefore, due to
expire.
If you are one of the absent voters
who receives a signature refresh form, please make sure you sign
and return it promptly as public authorities are obligated to send
reminders to anyone who does not respond.
If you have a disability which
means that you either cannot provide a signature or sign in a
consistent and distinctive way, please indicate this on the form
and make sure the name and address of your helper is provided.
If you no longer want to vote by
post you must respond by ticking the relevant box on the form and
return it as soon as possible, in order to avoid any unnecessary
reminders.
If you do not return the
signature refresh form by the deadline your existing absent vote
facility will be cancelled and you will have to vote in person or
make a new application.
Contact Details
Electoral Services
Westleigh House
Carnarvon Road
Clacton on Sea
Essex
CO15 6QF
Telephone: 01255 686586 or 01255 686587
Email: elections@tendringdc.gov.uk |