60,000 Leeds postal voters risk losing vote as renewal deadline approaches
Voters in Leeds are being urged to renew their details as the deadline for postal voters for the next election nears.
All registered postal voters in the city who applied to vote by that method before January 30 2024 need to renew their details by the end of January 2026 in order to avoid having their postal vote option cancelled.
Leeds City Council has contacted postal voters in the city twice already this year asking them to complete the renewal, which is a requirement of the government's Elections Act 2022 needing postal voters to renew their postal vote application every three years, with an identity check now included as part of the process.
Leeds has the highest number of registered postal voters of any comparable city in the country.
Despite receiving the information, approximately 60,000 postal voters in Leeds have still not responded, and the council is now urgently calling on those voters to do so as quickly as possible.
Electoral Registration Officer and chief executive of Leeds City Council Ed Whiting said: “It is very important postal voters in Leeds who have not yet renewed their details do so as quickly as possible, or they run the risk of having their postal vote option cancelled.
“The deadline of January 31 is getting ever closer and we want everyone who wants to vote to be able to do so by their preferred method.
“Leeds has the highest number of registered postal voters of any comparable city in the country, and we thank the more than 90,000 voters who have already responded, but with such a large number still outstanding we really do need people to act on this now.”
As part of the changes introduced by the government, all postal vote applications must contain the applicant's name, address, date of birth, national insurance number and a clear image of their signature.
Their identity will be verified against records held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). If this check fails, the applicant must provide further evidence of their identity.
After a fallow year for local elections in Leeds this year, the next scheduled local government elections in Leeds will be held on Thursday May 7 2026.