Guidance for Returning Officers administering Local Government Elections in England
Procedure of re-issuing lost/not received postal votes
Where a voter claims either to have lost or not to have received their postal ballot paper, postal voting statement, or envelopes ‘A’ and/or ‘B’, it is possible for a replacement postal ballot pack to be issued from 4 working days before polling day up until 5pm on polling day.1
The voter must apply in person and the replacement pack may only be issued by hand2
if the request for a replacement postal ballot pack is made between 5pm on the day before polling day and 5pm on polling day itself.
You must re-issue a postal ballot pack if you are satisfied as to the postal voter’s identity and have no reason to doubt that they have lost or did not receive their original postal ballot pack.3
To establish the postal voter’s identity, a proportionate approach should be adopted that seeks to use some proof of identity that can be easily verified by staff, but that is not too onerous for the elector. Legislation does not prescribe which forms of ID are required but the RO must be satisfied of the elector’s identity.4
For more information, see our guidance on proof of identity recommendations for reissuing postal votes.
You should consider whether or not particular arrangements need to be put in place for those electors who are unable to attend the elections office in person, for example due to disability or being overseas. For example, you could consider accepting scanned copies of proof of identity listed in the examples in the next section via email, or utilising video-calling technology.
If not all parts of the postal ballot pack have been lost or not received, the voter must return those documents that they do have. You are then required to immediately cancel those documents.5
Voters may telephone your office to enquire about a replacement postal ballot pack if their postal vote has failed to arrive. If this is the case, your staff should advise about the procedure for re-issuing and explain what proof of identity they will be asked to produce before a replacement postal ballot pack will be issued.
Record keeping for lost/not received postal ballot papers6
Where you re-issue a postal vote due to it being lost or not received, you must add the elector's name and elector number to the list of lost postal ballot papers.The name must not, however, be added if the elector is registered anonymously. The ballot paper number of the replacement ballot paper must also be added to the list. In the case of a postal proxy, the name and address of the proxy must be added to the list alongside the other details.
This table summarises the procedure for re-issuing lost or not received postal votes:
| Step | Action to take |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | There are no provisions to retrieve a postal ballot paper which reported lost / not received, but before taking the next steps it is good practice to check if the postal pack has been marked as returned on the postal voters or proxy postal voters list |
| Step 2 | Ensure you are satisfied as to the postal voter’s identity by requiring proof of identification |
| Step 3 | Where an elector has lost only part of their postal ballot pack, the remaining parts must be returned when applying for a replacement. Returned parts must be cancelled, sealed in the packed for lost postal ballot papers and details added to the list of cancelled postal ballot papers |
| Step 4 | Issue a new postal ballot pack (ballot paper(s), postal voting statement and relevant envelopes) to the elector
|
| Step 5 | Add the name* and electoral number of the elector and the number of the replacement ballot paper(s) to the list of lost postal ballot papers
*Exclude the name of anonymously registered electors |
For the purposes of collating data for the statement of postal ballot papers (Form K), you should also add the details of any lost ballot papers which have been cancelled to the list of all cancelled postal ballot papers. For more information see our guidance on record keeping for cancelled ballot papers.7
- 1. Regulation 78 Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (RPR(E&W)) ↩ Back to content at footnote 1
- 2. Reg. 78(3A) RPR(E&W) 2001 ↩ Back to content at footnote 2
- 3. Reg. 78 RPR(E&W) 2001 ↩ Back to content at footnote 3
- 4. Reg. 78(3)(a) RPR(E&W) 2001 ↩ Back to content at footnote 4
- 5. Reg. 78(2A) RPR(E&W) 2001 ↩ Back to content at footnote 5
- 6. Reg. 78(4) RPR(E&W) 2001 ↩ Back to content at footnote 6
- 7. Reg. 78 RPR(E&W) 2001 ↩ Back to content at footnote 7