Absent voting

What is absent voting?

If a voter cannot get to the polling station on the day of the election, they can apply for an absent vote. There are two types of absent vote:

• Postal votes: where you fill in your ballot in advance and send it back to be counted
• Proxy votes: where you ask someone to vote on your behalf on polling day

The rules on who can apply for an absent vote vary depending where in the UK the voter lives, and on which type of election they are trying to vote in.

Absent votes can be requested at any time but there are deadlines for setting up absent voting arrangements for a specific election. Again, these vary depending where in the UK a voter lives.

The Electoral Commission I am a voter website provides current information for all parts of the UK, including how to apply.

How popular is absent voting?

At the 2024 general election there were 48.2 million registered electors. Of those, 19.9% were issued with a postal ballot, up from 17.2% in 2019. The number of electors who appointed a proxy was 0.4%, compared to 0.6% in 2019.

Turnout tends to be higher for postal voters than those who vote at polling stations. There were 29.1 million valid ballots counted at the 2024 general election and of those 26.2% were postal votes. This figure was 21.0% in 2019. Before postal voting rules were changed in 2001, this was around 2%. The changes in 2001 allowed voters in Great Britain to request a postal vote for any reason, known as postal voting on demand, and the popularity of postal voting has grown at each election since. Postal voting on demand is not available in Northern Ireland.

In need of reform?

Postal votes returned after 10pm on polling day cannot be included in the count and some voters experience difficulties in returning their votes in time to be included, particularly overseas voters.

There are administrative and practical reasons why some postal votes fail to make it back in time. These include the time available to have ballots printed and sent out in the election timetable and the deadlines for applications within it. Divergence between the rules for different types of elections in Scotland and Wales increases confusion for voters and causes additional work for administrators.

The Electoral Commission has found no widespread, systemic issues with postal voting but has said postal voting should be reformed to improve services for voters and strengthen resilience within the system. The Association of Electoral Administrators has said the volume of postal voting and the lack of capacity across the supply chain leaves elections vulnerable.

Recommendations include altering the deadlines for application and making emergency proxies available for people experiencing difficulties with postal votes.