Security of postal voting

When you apply for a postal vote you will need to provide your date of birth, National Insurance number and signature on your application form.

These are checked against other government records before your application can be approved.

This helps to confirm that the person applying for the postal vote is the same person who is registered to vote.

Find out more about applying to vote by post

You can request for your postal vote to be sent to a different address to the address you are registered at. You must give the reason why you want your postal vote to be sent to a different address. This helps your Electoral Registration Officer or the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland to identify whether a suspicious application should be reported to the police.

You must complete a postal voting statement which is returned with your ballot paper. The postal voting statement includes your date of birth and signature. When the Returning Officer receives your returned postal voting documents they check and compare them against the details that were included in your original application to vote by post.

Your postal ballot will only be counted if the Returning Officer is satisfied that the date of birth and signature on your postal voting statement match the details in your original application. This helps to confirm that you completed your own postal vote instead of someone else.

For elections taking place on or after 2 May 2024, you will be only able to hand in your own postal vote, and the postal votes of up to five other people, at a polling station or at your local council.

If you are handing in postal votes you will need to complete a form giving your name and address, how many postal votes you are handing in and why you are handing them in.

Learn more about handing in postal votes at a polling station

For elections taking place on or after 2 May 2024, you will be only able to hand in your own postal vote, and the postal votes of up to five other people, at a polling station or at your local council offuce.

If you are handing in postal votes you will need to complete a form giving your name and address, how many postal votes you are handing in and why you are handing them in.

Learn more about handing in postal votes at a polling station

There are several criminal offences that relate to electoral fraud involving postal votes:

• It is an offence to apply for a postal vote pretending to be someone else
• It is an offence to ask the Returning Officer to send someone’s postal ballot paper to an address which they didn’t agree to
• It is an offence to stop a postal vote ballot paper (or other communications relating to the postal vote) being delivered to a voter who is entitled to vote by post
• It is an offence to pretend to be someone else to use their postal vote
• It is an offence to use (or threaten to use) violence against someone, damage their property or reputation, cause them financial loss, intimidate them, cause spiritual injury or place them undue spiritual pressure, in order to make them vote in a particular way or stop them from voting
• It is an offence for a political campaigner to handle postal voting documents that have been issued to another person (for elections where polling day is on or after 2 May 2024) unless the person is a close relative or someone they provide regular care for

Someone who is found guilty of the above offences could be sent to prison for up to 2 years and/or an unlimited fine.