Key information for voters

Postal voting

You must be registered to vote to be able to vote by post. You can register to vote and apply for a postal vote at the same time.

The deadline to apply for a postal vote for 7 May is 17:00 on 21 April.

If you previously applied for a postal vote before 30 January 2024, by law you were required to reapply by 31 January 2026. If you did not reapply, your postal vote has been cancelled.

To apply for a postal vote – whether for the first time or to reinstate your previous postal vote – you can:

Postal vote packs will be sent out once candidate nominations close and ballot papers are printed. We are due to send out postal votes for 7 May elections in two batches:

  • If you already had a postal vote or successfully apply before 26 March your postal vote pack will be sent after 21 April.
  • If you successfully apply for a postal vote from 27 March up to 17:00 on 21 April, your pack will be sent after 24 April.

Please allow time for Royal Mail to deliver your postal vote pack. If your postal vote doesn’t arrive within a reasonable timeframe, you should contact us at Electoral Services, Quadrant, The Silverlink North, Cobalt Business Park, NE27 0BY, tel: 0191 643 2270. 

Legally, we can only replace missing or lost postal vote packs from Thursday 30 April until 17:00 on Thursday 7 May.

From 6 May, we will only issue replacement postal ballot packs in person at Quadrant, The Silverlink North, Cobalt Business Park, NE27 0BY.  You may need to bring proof of identification such as a passport or driving licence. 

If you forget to post your postal vote back in time, you can hand it in at Quadrant, The Silverlink North, Cobalt Business Park, NE27 0BY during office hours or at your polling station on 7 May.

  • You will have to fill in a form when you hand in a postal vote, giving your name and address, number of postal votes you’re handing in and the reason why you are handing them in.
  • You can only hand in your postal vote plus up to five others in total for each election. Any extras above these six will be rejected.
  • Any postal vote packs posted by hand into our letterbox - or left in our offices without filling in a form - will be automatically rejected.  You must deliver it in person and fill in the form for it to be valid.
  • Only correctly completed postal votes that arrive back by 22:00 on 7 May will be valid and counted.