Voting by post? Miss the deadline, miss the vote

Leeds has one of the biggest postal votes in the UK and people who haven’t voted by post before but now want to are being advised to register early in the first December general election in nearly a century.

With the deadline of 5pm on November 26 to vote by post fast approaching, people wishing to do so are being urged not to leave it too late.

The city has what is understood to be the greatest number of people choosing to vote by post in the country and Leeds elections staff are due to issue 117,000 postal ballot packs to those already registered to do so over the next couple of weeks.

Elections managers are also aware that an increased number of people may opt for voting by post instead of in person because of the time of year. The risk of potential bad weather and the proximity to Christmas as the first December general election since 1923 are expected to play a part in influencing that.

Leeds City Council’s head of electoral services Susanna Benton said:

“Don’t lose your vote by missing the deadlines with it being such a busy time of year. We want to make sure as many people as possible are able to have their say in this election. Winter elections tend to lead to increased numbers of people wishing to vote by post, with the risk of more severe weather conditions, and we’re also expecting the closeness to Christmas to impact on whether people vote in person.

““With Leeds receiving the largest number of postal votes in the UK, it’s imperative that we have the voters’ forms as quickly as possible in order to ensure that everything is in order in time for the counting.

“Ballot packs for existing postal voters will start to go out in batches from next Tuesday, November 26. If you don’t receive yours straight away don’t worry - the delivery is so large it happens in phases in the run-up to polling day.”

If you need any information about registering or about the elections, the council’s dedicated elections web pages can be found here: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/elections.

For media enquiries please contact:

Leeds City Council press office 0113 378 6007

email: communicationsteam@leeds.gov.uk

ENDS