Around 16,000 postal voters on the Isle of Wight are at risk of losing their mail-in ballot as a result of a change in the law, the Isle of Wight Council is warning.
The Elections Act 2022 now requires postal votes to be renewed every 3 years.
All postal voters who made their current application before 30th January 2024 are now required to reapply for their postal vote by 31st January 2026.
If a new application is not received by this date, the Electoral Registration Officer is required by law to cancel the postal vote, and electors will have to vote in person at a polling station until a new postal vote application is received or if a proxy is appointed.
Isle of Wight Council’s Electoral Services team will be contacting all those affected by this change in the coming weeks, explaining how to reapply. They will be sending an initial email to all electors we hold an email address for, which will be sent from the [email protected] email address.
All other postal voters affected, for whom the council do not hold an email, will receive a letter which will contain information on what to do next.
Isle of Wight Council Electoral Services is calling for people to reapply now, to avoid delays closer to the next round of elections. In addition, completing a reapplication now will reduce costs if fewer postal reminders need to be sent.
Voters can reapply for their postal vote by using the following process…
How to reapply
The quickest and easiest way to reapply for a postal vote is on the GOV.UK website.
As part of the application, voters will be required to provide their:
- Date of birth
- National Insurance Number
- Upload a photo or scanned copy of your handwritten signature in black ink on plain white paper.
Electors must prove suitable identity as part of the application process. Identities will be verified against records held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). If this identity check fails, voters have to provide evidence of their identity.
The next scheduled elections will be in May 2026.
It’s got to the stage who does one vote for.
14 years of Conservatives and 1 and half
years of Labour and we are now in a worse
position.
Reform are thugs who have no idea how to
run a bath, yet alone run a country.
So the future is bleak.
for once I agree with you…
not sure about loosing postal votes,.. with this government we seem to have lost (local council) voting all together…. 🙁