Postal votes are an increasingly important driver of turnout in elections, especially local elections and by elections. For Liberal Democrats, they offer the opportunity to secure a strong base.
However, we now face a challenge because the last Conservative Government bought in a time limit on postal votes for all elections in England, for General Elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in Wales, and for General Elections in Scotland. The first batch of postal votes to expire will do so on 31st December 2026.
The Conservatives have managed to turn a straight-forward, universal system which worked into a complex one with different rules depending on where you live. It will also create extra costs for local councils.
Why Postal Votes are important
Postal voters vote. In General Elections, there turnout is higher than on the day voters. In local elections, the impact is greater. Postal voters are, on average, three times more likely to vote. A low tendency voter will become a higher tendency voter if moved onto a postal vote.
In most wards, 15-20% of voters will have a postal vote. However, of all votes cast, 40-50% will be done so by postal voters. In a local by election, it can be over 50%.
What is happening
Postal votes subject to expire do so on the third 31 January following the date the application was accepted.
The Electoral Commission says “If an elector’s application was determined on 1 April 2024, the maximum period the elector’s postal vote arrangement would last is up to the third 31 January following its determination date, i.e. 31 January 2027”.
This means that a significant number of postal votes will expire on the 31 January 2026.
In England
This will be all postal votes determined before 31 October 2023.
Voters in England can apply for a postal vote for all elections either on paper, using the form here, or online (see below).
In Wales
Postal votes for General Elections, Police and Crime Commissioners, MP recall petitions and UK wide referendums which were determined by the local election office before 31 October 2023 will expire on 31 January 2026.
Postal votes for the Welsh Senedd and Welsh local elections are unaffected and continue.
New applicants in Wales will have to complete a paper dual form, here, to apply for both UK-wide and Welsh postal votes.
In Scotland
Postal votes for General Elections (and MP recall petitions and UK wide referendums) determined by the local election office before 31 October 2023 will expire on 31 January 2026.
Postal votes for all other elections and referendums are unaffected and continue.
New applicants in Scotland will have to complete a paper dual form, here, to apply for both UK-wide and Scottish postal votes.
Notification of the change
Local election offices are required to inform postal voters that they will need to re-apply if they wish to keep their postal vote. However, there is considerable latitude in how they do this.
It is vital that we identify Lib Dem postal voters and ensure that they re-apply. We should also always encourage all Liberal Democrat supporters (and especially those with an intermittent voting record) to apply for a postal vote.
The good news is that electors can now apply for a postal vote online but only for General Elections, Police and Crime Commissioner elections, UK-wide referendums, MP recall petitions, and other elections in England. The site to do so is https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote.
N.B. You should destroy stocks of older postal vote forms because those are no longer valid.
N.B. A voter also needs to fill in a new application if they move house or change name.
To apply for a postal vote, an elector needs their date of birth and must use their normal signature to sign (or provide a scan or photo of it in black on white paper for an online application). For all votes in England, general elections anywhere and for police and crime commissioner elections, the applicant will need to provide their national insurance number (if they are unable to do so they will have to discuss proving their identity with the elections office).
There is a considerable danger that many older or less engaged voters will be put off from renewing their postal vote.
What you should do
First, look on connect to identify postal voters who support the Liberal Democrats. These are the key voters to get to renew.
Secondly, look at those who return their postal votes but for whom we have no canvass data. These are a key group to target for canvassing over the Summer. When you find a Lib Dem supporter, ensure that you encourage them to renew.
Thirdly, if you have good marked-register records, look at non-postal voters who support us but don’t always vote. Target these voters to get them to register for a postal vote.
You can also direct mail these groups, including a postal vote registration form, or email them, including a link to the online site.
N.B. Experience shows that the best results will be achieved by combining mailing, emailing and door-knocking.
Campaigners in Scotland and Wales – particularly with the focus being on Local Elections in 2027 – should continue to focus as always on signing up new Lib Dem postal voters as there is no requirement to renew for local or devolved elections.
Resources to help you
ALDC offers a number of bulk buy deals, including regular direct mail packages (both for use in the post and for self-delivery).
- We have postal voter recruitment templates that you can access here
- Our Direct Mail Bulk Buy dates and information can be found here
The rules on postal votes
We can still encourage people to sign up to postal votes, and provide them with application forms. However, we must:
- Provide voters with the address of the local election office to return the forms to.
- If they do give hand completed forms to us, we must deliver them to the election office within 2 working days.
During an election, we can’t collect completed postal vote packs to hand in.
As campaigners, we must follow the code of conduct on postal and proxy votes. See the code of conduct of English and UK-wide elections here. The code of conduct for other elections in Scotland and Wales is here.
Steve James says
How will we know which postal votes will expire? Will proxy votes expire as well? Is there a legal requirement for Councils to give us expiry dates?