Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Senedd election

Postal ballot paper

The form of the ballot paper is prescribed in legislation and you must follow this precisely.1

The EMB may direct or recommend what the colour of the ballot paper should be.

For more information see our guidance on the design of ballot papers.

Postal voting statement 

The postal voting statement is set out in the legislation and must be produced in the prescribed form.2 The postal voting statement must include:

• the elector’s name (unless they are an anonymous elector)
• the voter’s name (where this differs from the elector’s name because the elector is voting by proxy)
• the number of the ballot paper being issued with the statement.

You must produce different forms of the postal voting statement for anonymous electors and for those who have been granted a waiver.3 The postal voting statement for anonymous electors must not show the name of the elector.4  

Where an elector has been granted a waiver by the ERO, you must omit the signature box and any reference to signing the form in the instructions to voters.5

You should also design and test the postal vote statements to ensure that the signature and date of birth fields are in the correct place and format to be able to be processed on their return by your personal identifier verification system.

Additional instructions to voters

In addition to the prescribed content of the postal ballot pack as above, you should consider providing additional, more specific instructions – for example, graphical instructions for voters to help them complete the statement and ballot paper and return their postal vote stationery in the correct envelopes.

You must provide to postal voters information as appropriate on how to obtain instructions in alternative formats, e.g. alternative languages, braille, and audio.6

As part of these instructions, you should include information explaining the personal nature of the vote, setting out that it is secret and that anyone interfering with the voter marking their vote would be committing an offence. You should also include information on how to report any concerns or suspected instance of electoral fraud.