Postal Voting
Anybody can apply to vote by post as long as their details have been entered onto the Electoral Register. You do not need to give any reason for voting this way and can apply to vote by post for all future elections, a fixed period i.e. 6 months or 1 year, or for one election if you were unable to vote in person on that day. If however you were going to be away on holiday and were thinking about a postal vote, please contact Electoral Services prior to applying to find out the approximate posting dates of the ballot papers, as we have to follow strict dates for posting, and cannot always guarantee to deliver these to you if you are on holiday a few days prior to the election. As part of the Electoral Administrators Bill passed in 2006 anybody requiring a postal vote has to provide their date of birth and a specimen signature. This information is securely held and only used to check the details against the Voting Statement returned with your ballot paper. This is to prevent fraudulent postal votes being returned, your vote remains secret.
Once you have received your postal vote you can complete the ballot paper and follow the instructions provided to send it back to the Civic Offices. If however you decide you do not wish to use the postal system, you can complete the ballot paper, place it in the return envelope and deliver it to a polling station within your electoral area, or to the Civic Offices before 10.00pm, which is the close of poll.
Please note that if you choose to vote by post then you will not be able to vote in person at a polling station.
Proxy Voting
Proxy voting means allowing someone else to vote for you, and this facility is available for various reasons for example travelling or living away from home, sickness, away on holiday, or if you are a student.
However, you may find that you are able to vote on election day, in this case you can still go to the polling station, but the person you have appointed as your proxy will not then be able to vote on your behalf.
To apply for an application form to vote by proxy, or if you have any queries regarding the above, or would like more advice, please contact Electoral Services on 01256 845264 or e-mail electoral.services@basingstoke.gov.uk
Elections on Thursday 1 May 2008
The deadline to apply for a postal vote, or to change or amend an existing postal vote is 5.00pm Wednesday 16 April 2008. This deadline also applies to postal proxy votes.
If you miss the deadline of 5.00pm on Wednesday 16 April to apply for a postal vote, you may still apply for a proxy vote, where somebody votes on your behalf, up until 5.00pm on Wednesday 23 April 2008.