Archived press release

Date Published: 05/04/07

Postal voters in Aylesbury Vale have only a few days left to register to vote by post in next month’s local elections. New legislation has been brought in which means that every elector who wishes to vote by post must provide a signature an...

Postal voters in Aylesbury Vale have only a few days left to register to vote by post in next month’s local elections.

New legislation has been brought in which means that every elector who wishes to vote by post must provide a signature and date of birth or face losing their postal vote.

The signature and date of birth, known as ‘Personal Identifiers’, will be scanned and used to electronically validate postal votes which are returned for the 3 May election – and if they do not match the original information provided the vote will be rejected. This is one of a number of measures that the government has recently introduced to prevent postal voting fraud.

In January this year, AVDC sent out 14,500 ‘Collection of Personal Identifiers’ forms to householders currently registered to vote by post or proxy. Of that number, 12,800 residents responded, but 1,700 failed to reply by the deadline and have subsequently lost their current right to have a postal vote.

Residents who wish to make a fresh application for a postal vote need to ensure forms are completed and returned to the council by 5pm on Wednesday 18 April. Anyone who normally votes using the postal system who fails to provide their details by the deadline will be unable to vote by post and have to visit their polling station on election day.   

Les White, Deputy Returning Officer, said: “Postal voting is a safe and convenient method for people to have their say and I would urge everyone to register if they think they may not be able to get to the polling stations in person. All you need to do is sign the registration form, add your date of birth and return it to the council by 5pm on 18 April.

“Don’t take it for granted that you are already on the list. Anyone in doubt as to whether or not they are registered to receive a postal vote should contact the council.”

Voters also have the opportunity to ask someone to vote on their behalf. Proxy applications must be received by the council by 5pm on 25 April. Anyone taken ill after that date should contact the electoral services officer for advice.

Forms for postal or proxy voting can be downloaded from the council’s website at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/elections or can be obtained from the electoral registration office by calling 585807.