Absent Voting
If you are unable to get to the polling station to vote in
person then you can apply to vote either by post or by proxy.
Postal Voting
You can apply to have
your ballot paper(s) sent to you in the post either
permanently, for a set time period or for a particular
election. Applications must be received by 5pm eleven
working days before the election and therefore the ballot
paper(s) are sent out about one week prior to the election
day. Along with your ballot paper(s) you will receive a
Postal Voting Statement where you will need to provide your date of
birth and signature. This is to help prevent postal vote
fraud and will be checked against the particulars that you
provided on your application form. If you are unable to
provide a clear and consistent signature please contact the
Electoral Services office who can give further
advise. Once you've marked your vote and completed your
Postal Voting Statement you will need to seal the envelopes and
return it in the post to the Returning Officer by 10pm on
Election day.
Your postal vote will be sent to
your registered address unless you ask for it to be sent to a
different address giving a suitable reason.
Please contact the
Electoral Services office for an application form
Proxy Voting
You can apply to have someone you
trust to vote on your behalf which is especially useful if you are
unable to vote yourself or are abroad in a country too far
away to have the ballot paper(s) sent to you and returned
completed to us in time for the election. You can apply
for a one-off proxy or a permanent proxy and applications must be
received by 5pm six working days before the election, however you
can apply for an emergency proxy on medical grounds up until 5pm on
polling day if you are suddenly taken ill. As with postal
voting all applicants must provide their date of birth and
signature, if you are unable to provide a clear and consistent
signature please contact the Electoral Services office for further
advice.
One-off
proxy - you can appoint someone to vote on your
behalf for one specific election only. You must give a valid
reason for the application, such as being abroad, in hospital
or injured and unable to vote by post.
Permanent proxy
- you can appoint someone to vote on your behalf
indefinitly. You must give a valid reason for the application
and it must also be attested. The
attestation will either be a declaration of support from
an employer, course tutor, registered medical practitioner or
carer or if you are in receipt of disability living allowance or
are registered blind then you only have to provide the relevant
number.
Anyone can be your proxy as long as
they are eligible to vote in the election that is being
held and they are willing to vote on your behalf. You cannot
be a proxy for more than two people at any one election, unless
they are a close relative.
Once the application has been
granted an acknowledgement letter will be sent to both the elector
and their proxy. About one week before the election the
proxy will be sent a proxy poll card (this will usually be in the
form of an A4 letter) which they should take to the polling station
indicated, this is to assist the staff however it is not
compulsory.
If you have appointed a proxy to
vote on your behalf but then find that you are able to go to the
polling station on election day you can vote yourself as long
as your proxy has not already voted or has not been sent your
votes by post. If a proxy is unable to get to the
polling station they can apply to have the ballot papers
sent via the post.
If you require an application form
or have any questions please contact the Electoral
Services office. Please read the application and notes
carefully when completing the form.
Absent Vote Signature Refresh
Absent Voters (i.e. those who vote
by post) are required to provide a signature and date of birth
when they first apply.
When you are sent your postal vote
for an election you are required to provide your signature and date
of birth on a postal voting statement. These 'personal
identifiers' are checked against those you provided on your
original postal vote application form, to ensure that they
match. This is to prevent someone else from using your
vote. If they do not match, your vote cannot be
counted. Your personal identifiers are always kept separate
from your ballot paper, so no-one knows how you have voted.
An important part of these security
measures is providing a fresh specimen signature every 5 years,
since people's signatures and circumstances can change over
time. The legislation requires the Electoral Registration
Officer to carry out the first annual refresh of signatures by
31 January 2012 in order to ensure that the
signatures for as many absent voters as possible are refreshed,
producing as accurate a record as possible and potentially limiting
the number of postal votes that are rejected due to mismatched
identifiers.
Therefore, anyone who has had a
postal, proxy or postal proxy since January 2007 will be sent a
signature refresh form for us to legally request your latest
signature.
Please look out for the form being
sent to your address in January 2012. Please make sure you
sign and return it ASAP as we legally have to send a reminder 3
weeks later to everyone who does not respond and this costs us more
money.
If you have a disability which
means that you either cannot provide a signature or sign in a
consistent and distinctive way, please indicate this on the form
and make sure the name and address of your helper is provided.
If you no longer want to vote by
post you must respond by ticking the relevant box on the form and
return it to us as soon as possible in order to avoid any
unnecessary reminders.
If you do not return the signature
refresh form by the deadline your existing absent vote facility
will be cancelled and you will have to vote in person or make a new
application.
This Absent Vote signature refresh
exercise will be undertaken every January.
Contact Details
Harlow Council
Electoral Services
Latton Bush Centre
Southern Way
Harlow
Essex
CM18 7BL
Telephone: 01279 446042
Fax: 01279 446464
E-mail: registration@harlow.gov.uk