'Urgent reminder' as 45,000 Leeds postal voters yet to renew ahead of city council elections

There are still approximately 45,000 postal voters in the city who have not yet renewed their details and will have their voting option cancelled unless they do so by the end of this month.

Leeds City Council has issued a final urgent reminder to any postal voters who have not yet completed the reapplication process to do so before January 31 to avoid losing that option.

All who applied for postal vote before January 30 in 2024 need to renew their details by the end the month or they will lose their postal vote option and have to vote in-person at a polling station at future elections, starting with the local elections in Leeds on Thursday, May 7.

Postal voters need to renew their application every three years as part of a requirement of the government's Elections Act 2022. An identity check is also now included as part of the process.

Leeds has the highest number of registered postal voters of any comparable city in the country at around 160,000, and 115,000 applications have already been processed.

Electoral Registration Officer and chief executive of Leeds City Council Ed Whiting 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 process is online at the Gov.UK website.

As part of the changes introduced by the government, all postal vote applications must contain the applicant's name, address, date of birth, national insurance number and a clear image of their signature.

Their identity will be verified against records held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). If this check fails, the applicant must provide further evidence of their identity.

If anyone is unable to complete the application online, paper copies of the application form have been sent by post, but can also be downloaded online here.

Anyone who no longer requires a postal vote should contact the Electoral Registration Officer immediately. More information can be found at Postal voting | Leeds.gov.uk.