The Elections Act 2022 introduced changes to the way people apply for a postal vote for applications received from 31 October 2023:

• all postal vote applications must contain the applicant's name, address, date of birth, national insurance number and signature
• the applicant's identity must be verified against records held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). If this identity check fails, the applicant must provide evidence of their identity
• postal votes are now valid for a maximum of 3 years

All postal voters, who applied before 31 October 2023, must re-apply for their postal vote by 31 January 2026 in order to remain a postal voter.

We currently have over 17,000 voters who need to re-apply, so we have started the renewal process early to allow voters time to re-apply and The Electoral Registration Team time to process the applications in advance of any elections.

Anyone who does not respond to this request will receive another invitation, closer to the postal vote expiry date of 31 January 2026. If they do not re-apply by the expiry date the postal vote will be cancelled.

We will send a letter or email to all affected postal voters in 

So that you can spot a genuine email from us:

• the email title will be 'Request for Postal Vote Reapplication'
• the sender will be eregcanvass@winchester.gov.uk

Some members of the same household may be contacted in different ways depending on whether we have an email address or not.

We are using emails where a voter has provided an email address to reduce the cost of sending letters by post. Please help us by responding to our request for information as soon as possible.

Please contact the Elections Office if:

• you no longer wish to vote by post (include your name, address and a request to remove your postal vote application)
• you received an email, but are unable to complete your application online and want to ask for a paper form

Email: eregcanvass@winchester.gov.uk 

Phone: 01962 848125

We have more information online about how to vote by post.