Rother District Council

If you are unable to get to the polling station to vote in person then you can apply to vote either by post or by proxy.

Absent Vote Signature Refresh NEW

Absent Voters (i.e. those who vote by post) are required to provide a signature and date of birth when they first apply.

When you are sent your postal vote for an election you are required to provide your signature and date of birth on a postal voting statement.  These 'personal identifiers' are checked against those you provided on your original postal vote application form, to ensure that they match.  This is to prevent someone else from using your vote.  If they do not match, your vote cannot be counted.  Your personal identifiers are always kept separate from your ballot paper, so no-one knows how you have voted.

An important part of these security measures is providing a fresh specimen signature every 5 years, since people's signatures and circumstances can change over time.  The legislation requires the Electoral Registration Officer to carry out the first annual refresh of signatures by 31 January 2012  in order to ensure that the signatures for as many absent voters as possible are refreshed, producing as accurate a record as possible and potentially limiting the number of postal votes that are rejected due to mismatched identifiers.

Therefore, anyone who has had a postal, proxy or postal proxy since January 2007 will be sent a signature refresh form for us to legally request your latest signature.

Please look out for the form being sent to your address in January / February 2012.  Please make sure you sign and return it ASAP as we legally have to send a reminder 3 weeks later to everyone who does not respond and this costs us more money.

If you have a disability which means that you either cannot provide a signature or sign in a consistent and distinctive way, please indicate this on the form and make sure the name and address of your helper is provided.

If you no longer want to vote by post you must respond by ticking the relevant box on the form and return it to us as soon as possible in order to avoid any unnecessary reminders.

If you do not return the signature refresh form by the deadline of 12 March 2012 your existing absent vote facility will be cancelled and you will have to vote in person or make a new application.

This Absent Vote signature refresh exercise will be undertaken every January.

Postal Voting

You can apply to have your ballot paper(s) sent to you in the post either permanently, for a set time period or for a particular election.  You can apply for a postal vote at any time throughout the year however prior to an election applications must be received by 5pm eleven working days before the election takes place. Due to this deadline the ballot paper(s) are sent out about one week prior to the election day.  Along with your ballot paper(s) you will receive a Postal Voting Statement where you will need to provide your date of birth and signature.  This is to help prevent postal vote fraud and will checked against the particulars that you provided on your application form.  If you are unable to provide a clear and consistent signature please contact the Electoral Services office who can give further advise.  Once you've marked your vote and completed your Postal Voting Statement you will need to seal the envelopes and return it in the post to the Returning Officer by 10pm on Election day. 

Your postal vote will be sent to your registered address unless you ask for it to be sent to a different address giving a suitable reason. 

Please contact the Electoral Services office for an application form or use download a form from here.

Proxy Voting

You can apply to have someone you trust to vote on your behalf which is especially useful if you are unable to vote yourself or are abroad in a country too far away to have the ballot paper(s) sent to you and returned completed to us in time for the election.  You can apply for a one-off proxy or a permanent proxy and applications must be received by 5pm six working days before the election, however you can apply for an emergency proxy on medical grounds up until 5pm on polling day if you are suddenly taken ill.  As with postal voting all applicants must provide their date of birth and signature, if you are unable to provide a clear and consistent signature please contact the Electoral Service office for further advice.

One-off proxy  - you can appoint someone to vote on your behalf for one specific election only.  You must give a valid reason for the application, such as being abroad, in hospital or injured and unable to vote by post.

Permanent proxy - you can appoint someone to vote on your behalf indefinitely.  You must give a valid reason for the application and it must also be attested.  The attestation will either be a declaration of support from an employer, course tutor, registered medical practitioner or carer or if you are in receipt of disability living allowance or are registered blind then you only have to provide the relevant number.  

Anyone can be your proxy as long as they are eligible to vote in the election that is being held and they are willing to vote on your behalf.  You cannot be a proxy for more than two people at any one election, unless they are a close relative.

Once the application has been granted an acknowledgement letter will be sent to both the elector and their proxy.  About one week before the election the proxy will be sent a proxy poll card (this will usually be in the form of an A4 letter) which they should take to the polling station indicated, this is to assist the staff however it is not compulsory.  

If you have appointed a proxy to vote on your behalf but then find that you are able to go to the polling station on election day you can vote yourself as long as your proxy has not already voted or has not been sent your votes by post.  If a proxy is unable to get to the polling station they can apply to have the ballot papers sent via the post.

If you require an application form or have any questions please contact the Electoral Services office.  Please read the application and notes carefully when completing the form.  Alternatively if you want a proxy for a particular election you can download the form here.

Contact Details

Electoral Registration Officer

Rother District Council

Town Hall

Bexhill-on-Sea

East Sussex

TN39 3JX

01424 787825

elections@rother.gov.uk

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