Running electoral registration - Wales

The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 commences on 31 October 2023 and impacts postal vote applications made for UK Parliamentary elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. 

Removal of automatic entitlement to a Police and Crime Commissioner postal vote based on an existing local government absent vote arrangement

Electors with existing postal voting arrangements that covers UK Parliamentary elections will continue to receive a postal vote for Police and Crime Commissioner elections while that arrangement remains in place. They will be required to make a reapplication by the 31 January 2026 if the arrangement is still in place at this time.

From the 31 January 2024 those electors who only have an existing postal vote arrangement at local government elections will no longer automatically be entitled to a postal vote at Police and Crime Commissioner elections as provisions will remove this automatic entitlement for electors in Wales. This is because local government postal voting arrangements for voters in Wales are not covered by the new requirement to provide additional information for the purpose of ID verification which are needed to vote by post at Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

There are plans to  update the legislation  to bring the postal voting arrangements for this type of election in line with other UK government polls.

New applications received on or after the 31 October 2023 commencement 

All postal and postal proxy vote applications received on or after the commencement date for UK Parliamentary elections and/or Police and Crime Commissioner elections must satisfy the new requirements including information for the verification of personal identifiers.1  

Where an application does not contain the required information, you should, where possible, make enquiries to obtain the missing information. If the missing information is not submitted, the application cannot be accepted. You should write to the elector, explain why the application has not been accepted and how to make a fresh application. 

Notifying existing postal and postal proxy voters of the requirement to reapply

Existing long term domestic postal and postal proxy voters for UK Parliamentary elections will continue to be able to vote by post until the 31 January 2026. 

You will need to notify these voters of the need to re-apply before the expiry of their existing arrangement. 

The notification must include the date on which their existing postal vote entitlement is to end and inform them about how to make a fresh application before that date if they want to continue to vote by post. 

Transitional arrangements for overseas electors with postal votes

The postal vote arrangements of overseas electors that are in place at commencement of the new overseas electors’ provisions will expire at the same time as their existing overseas elector declaration, which will be within 12 months of commencement. You will need to contact the elector before their overseas elector declaration expires to advise them that they will need to reapply for their postal vote. This can be combined with any renewal request relating to the need to reapply to remain registered as an overseas elector.

Once the new overseas electors’ provisions come into force, the maximum period for a postal vote arrangement will be the period up until the end of the declaration renewal period. This will be calculated from the original date of the overseas elector’s addition to the register and will cease on the third 1 November calculated from the date of their addition to or renewal on the register. 

Our guidance on overseas electors has been updated to reflect changes as a result of the Elections Act 2022.