To apply for a postal vote you’ll need:
- the address where you are registered to vote
- your National Insurance number or other identity documents, for example a passport
- the specific date of the election or referendum you want to make a postal vote, if you only want a one-off postal vote
You’ll also need to upload a photo of your handwritten signature in black ink on plain white paper.
If you cannot provide a signature or one that always looks the same, you may be able to apply for a postal vote signature waiver within the service.
You might be asked for extra documents to identify you.
Applications to register to vote jumped sharply on Monday – the final day to apply ahead of the elections taking place in England, Scotland and Wales on May 7. Some 112,641 applications were submitted, up from 42,827 on Sunday and comfortably the highest number on a single day so far this year, Government figures show.
There is a separate deadline of 5pm on Tuesday April 21 to apply for a postal vote in the elections.
Proxy voting is when you get someone else to vote on your behalf, known as a proxy, if you can’t get to the polling station yourself.
The deadline to register for a proxy vote is 5pm on April 28.
To apply for a proxy vote you’ll need:
- your National Insurance number or any other identity document, for example a birth certificate
- the address where your proxy is registered to vote
- contact details for your proxy
You’ll also need to upload a photo of your handwritten signature in black ink on plain white paper.
If you cannot provide a signature or one that always looks the same, you may be able to apply for a proxy vote signature waiver within the service.
The rules are different if you want to apply for a proxy vote in Northern Ireland for all elections.
There’s a different way to apply for the Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament), Scottish Parliament and local elections in Scotland and Wales using a paper form.