Absent Voter Five Yearly Signature Update
Electoral Registration Officers are legally
required to write to all absent voters whose signature on their
application form is over five years old, and request that they
provide a fresh one. To accommodate this a form is sent to
each relevant absent voter. Absent voters are those who have
made arrangements either to vote by post or have appointed someone
to vote on their behalf (a proxy). Absent voters are required
to provide a personal identifier when applying to vote by post or
by proxy, which consists of a signature and date of birth. It
is only the signature that needs to be updated to maintain the
absent voting arrangement. Absent voters who have been
granted a waiver (where they do not have to provide their
signature) are not affected by this.
At an election, for those who vote by post,
the signature provided is matched against the signature we receive
with the postal ballot papers. This is to assist in
deterring misuse of the entitlement to vote and tries to ensure
that nobody steals the postal vote.
Remember, this is a personal identifier for
the voter concerned and no other person can sign the form on behalf
of the elector. To cancel an absent voting
arrangement the form will need to be returned indicating
this.
The form must be returned within six weeks of
the date of issue. Failure to do so will result in
the absent voting arrangement being cancelled.
If an absent vote is cancelled the voter will be required
to vote in person at their designated polling
station. This does not prevent a new application to vote
by post or proxy being made in the future.
For further information contact:
Electoral Services Team
Room 317
Borough Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP
Tel: 01234 276916 / 276922
E-mail: electoralservices@bedford.gov.uk
Issued by the Deputy Electoral Registration Officer