Thousands of voters in Leeds are being urged to act quickly as the deadline to renew postal voting arrangements under new national rules approaches.
Leeds City Council has issued a final reminder that postal voters who have not yet completed the required reapplication process must do so by 31 January or risk losing the option to vote by post. With less than a fortnight remaining, around 45,000 registered postal voters in the city have still not renewed their details.
The requirement forms part of changes introduced through the Elections Act 2022, which now requires postal voters to reapply every three years and complete an identity check as part of the process. All voters in Leeds who applied for a postal vote before 30 January 2024 must renew by the end of this month to continue voting by post.
Failure to do so will mean those voters are automatically removed from the postal voting register and will need to vote in person at polling stations at future elections, starting with the local elections in Leeds on Thursday 7 May.
Leeds has the highest number of registered postal voters of any comparable UK city, with around 160,000 people signed up. The council’s elections team has already processed approximately 115,000 applications, leaving 45,000 still outstanding. While some of those may be choosing to return to in-person voting or not participate, anyone wishing to retain postal voting must complete the renewal.
Ed Whiting, Electoral Registration Officer and chief executive of Leeds City Council, said:
“We are now at the final chance stage for postal voters who wish to continue voting that way to renew their details by the end of this month or their postal vote option will be cancelled.
“The response in Leeds has been impressive, but we still have a significant number of people outstanding. If you would like to continue voting by post this May or any future elections and haven’t come back to us, you do need to complete the process now. We want as many people as possible to vote and to do so by their preferred voting method, so we encourage all postal voters who have not done so yet to give this their urgent attention.”
The quickest way to complete the Leeds postal vote renewal process is online. Applicants must provide their name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and a clear image of their signature. Identity details are checked against Department for Work and Pensions records, with further evidence required if verification cannot be completed.
For those unable to apply online, paper forms are available by post or can be downloaded. Voters who no longer wish to vote by post are asked to contact the Electoral Registration Officer as soon as possible. Further information is available on the council’s website.
