Running electoral registration - Wales

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

New applications received on or after the 31 October 2023 commencement 

All proxy vote applications received for UK Parliamentary elections and/or Police and Crime Commissioner elections on or after commencement 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. 

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

Current proxy voting arrangements for Police and Crime Commissioner elections are based on an elector having an existing proxy voting arrangement at either or both UK Parliamentary elections or local government elections.

Where an elector reapplies for a proxy vote for UK Parliamentary elections they will continue to be entitled to vote by proxy for Police and Crime Commissioner elections as a result while that arrangement remains in place. They will then be required to refresh their signature every 5 years for the arrangement to remain in place.

From the 31 January 2024 those electors who only have an existing proxy vote arrangement at local government elections will no longer automatically be entitled to vote by proxy at Police and Crime Commissioner elections as provisions remove this automatic entitlement for electors in Wales. This is because local government proxy 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 proxy at Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

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

Transitional arrangements for overseas electors with proxy votes

Proxy vote applications made after the commencement of The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 on 31 October 2023 will require the signature to be refreshed at the point the existing overseas declaration expires. If the proxy vote application is made after commencement and the overseas elector is not yet on a 3 year renewal cycle, the overseas elector will be required to provide a fresh signature when their current overseas registration expires, which will not exceed 12 months. 

However, an automatic signature extension will be applied where: 

• the new proxy vote application is made post-commencement of The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
• the elector’s overseas registration has not yet moved from the 12 month renewal process to the new 3 year renewal process 
• the proxy application was made less than 3 months before the existing overseas elector declaration is due to be renewed 

If the elector does renew their declaration, the effect of that extension will be that the elector will not be required to provide a signature until their declaration is next due for renewal.

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