Council invites postal voters to renew their ballot request

Thousands of voters who are registered for a postal vote are being asked to look out for an invitation from North Somerset Council to renew their voting method.

Following the Election Act 2022, the way people apply for a postal vote has changed. Postal votes are now valid for a maximum of three years.

North Somerset voters who applied for a postal vote before 30 January 2024 must apply again by 31 January 2026 to keep their postal vote.

This affects approximately 20,000 postal voters across North Somerset who the council will be contacting directly between June and December 2025. Everyone who needs to renew their postal vote will be contacted before January 2026.

Where the council holds a voter’s email address, it will send an email with more information. The email will be titled ‘North Somerset Council – postal vote renewal’ and it will be sent from electoral.services@n-somerset.gov.uk’

If the council does not have an email address for someone, or if they do not respond to the initial email, a letter will be sent in December.

Cllr Mike Bell, Leader of North Somerset Council, said; “We’ve started this process early to make sure there’s plenty of time for people to reapply for their postal vote. The next scheduled elections in North Somerset are due to be held in May 2027, so it's important to get this done before then.”“With more than 20,000 people to contact, we’ll be carrying this work out in stages. Emails will be sent in batches between now and December, based on when people originally applied for a postal vote. If you get the email then please reply to it as soon as you can and make sure you’ve applied for your postal vote by 31 January 2026 – if you don’t, your postal vote will be cancelled. Your vote matters, don’t lose it.”

Voters who no longer wish to have a postal vote can inform the council’s elections team by emailing their name, address and a request to have their postal vote application removed to electoral.services@n-somerset.gov.uk.

More information about the changes can be found on the council’s website at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/postalvote.

Anyone who is registered to vote can apply for a postal vote. Registering to vote is quick and easy to do online. Visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.