Running electoral registration - England

Acceptable document types for the exceptions process for postal vote applications

Postal vote applications which fail to match with DWP should be referred to the exception process.

The documents required to successfully establish an applicant’s identity should refer to the applicant by name and the types and quantities that must be supplied for domestic electors are as follows:

any one document from table 1
one document from table 2 and two additional documents from either table 2 or table 3
four documents from table 3

Table 1: Primary identification documents1
Document	Notes
the applicant’s passport	Any current passport
the applicant’s identity card issued in the European Economic Area	Must be valid
the applicant’s biometric immigration document issued in the United Kingdom in accordance with regulations made under section 5 of the Borders Act 20072	Must be valid
the applicant’s electoral identity card issued in Northern Ireland	Must be valid
the applicant’s photocard driving licence granted in the United Kingdom or driving licence granted by a Crown Dependency, which bears a photograph of the applicant	Must be valid (full or provisional)

Table 2: Trusted government documents3
Document	Notes
the applicant’s birth certificate	Issued in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies only
the applicant’s marriage or civil partnership certificate	Issued in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies only
the applicant’s adoption certificate	Issued in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies only
the applicant’s firearms certificate granted under the Firearms Act 1968	Issued in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies only
the record of a decision on bail made in respect of the applicant in accordance with section 5(1) of the Bail Act 1976	Issued in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies only
the applicant’s driving licence, which is not in the form of a photocard	Issued in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies only
the applicant’s driving licence, granted other than in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies, which bears a photograph of the applicant	Must be valid for at least 12 months from the date the applicant entered the United Kingdom

Table 3: Financial and social history documents4
Document	Notes
a financial statement, including but not limited to— a mortgage statement a bank or building society statement or a letter from a bank or building society confirming that the applicant has opened an account with that bank or building society a credit card statement a pension statement	Must bear the applicant’s full name
a council tax demand letter or statement	Must bear the applicant’s full name
a utility bill	Must bear the applicant’s full name
a Form P45 or Form P60 issued to the applicant by their employer or former employer	Must bear the applicant’s full name
a statement of benefits or entitlement to benefits, such as a statement of child benefit, within the meaning of section 141 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, or a letter confirming that the applicant is entitled to housing benefit, within the meaning of section 130 of that Act	Must bear the applicant’s full name

If a domestic elector applying for a postal vote cannot provide the quantity and types of documentary evidence set out in this guidance, they should be asked to provide an attestation in support of their application.

Exceptions process for postal vote applications from overseas electors

The types of documents that can be provided to successfully establish an applicant’s identity for a postal vote where they are registered as an overseas elector are the same as detailed in our guidance above but with the exception that:

electors can alternatively provide a photocard driving licence issued other than in the UK or a Crown Dependency and there is no requirement relating to the timing of that document’s validity
the documents in list 3 must have been issued in the United Kingdom or a Crown Dependency

If an overseas elector who has applied for a postal vote cannot provide the quantity and types of documentary evidence set out in this guidance, they should be asked to provide an attestation in support of their application.

Exceptions process for applicants registered via a service declaration on the grounds that they are the spouse or civil partner of a member of the forces, a Crown Servant or the spouse or civil partner of a Crown Servant

If an applicant for a postal vote is registered via a service declaration on the grounds that they are the spouse or civil partner of a member of the forces, a Crown Servant or the spouse or civil partner of a Crown Servant and you require additional evidence to verify their identity, you should write to them and ask them to provide one of the following documents5 :

the applicant’s passport
the applicant’s identity card issued in the European Economic Area.

The document must be certified by a Crown servant or British Council employee or an officer of the forces who is not the applicant’s spouse or civil partner6 .

There is no exceptions process for applicants who are registered by a service declaration as member of the armed forces. For more information on the attestation process for these electors see the attestation process for postal vote applications.

Diweddarwyd ddiwethaf: 24 Mawrth 2026