Important info ahead of general election

30 May 2024

With a general election taking place on July 4th, residents in Northumberland are being reminded of some important dates for their diary – and what they need to do ahead of the polls. 

If you have never registered to vote, have recently moved, or changed your name, you can register to vote at gov.uk/registertovote 

The deadline to register to vote is 18th June. 

If you are already registered to vote, you DO NOT need to re-register. 

If you’re planning to vote in person, you need to take photo ID with you to the polling station. You can find out which forms of photo ID you can use to vote at electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID. 

If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID, you can apply for a free ‘Voter Authority Certificate’. You can apply online up to 5pm on 26th June via gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate. 
You need to be registered to vote before you apply.

If you know that you won’t be able to get to the polling station on polling day, or don’t want to vote in person, you can vote by post or ask someone you trust to cast your vote for you, which is called a proxy vote.  You can apply online to vote by post and for some types of proxy vote. You also need to prove your identity by providing your National Insurance number. 

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 19th June.  Apply online at gov.uk/apply-postal-vote 

Postal votes will be posted out to voters in two stages. The first release will be on 17th June and will include those electors who already have a postal vote in place or applied by 30th May.   

The last release will be on 26th June and will include applications made after 30th May up until the deadline of 19th June. 

If you are going to be away and will not receive your postal vote pack in time, you may be able to cancel your postal vote before the deadline for changes to postal votes and apply online for a proxy vote. 

You can only act as a proxy for two people living in the UK. If you act as a proxy for people living overseas, you can act as a proxy for up to four people but only two of these can be based in the UK. 

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on 26th June. Apply online at gov.uk/apply-proxy-vote 

If you require further information, contact the elections team at: elections@northumberland.gov.uk