Blaby District Council

Summary

Proxy vote is a facility for people who cannot attend a polling station (usually for reasons of ill-health or employment) on election day; they can nominate another person who will vote on their behalf. The proxy must be eligible to vote in the election themselves in order to act on behalf of another person.

Printable forms

• Proxy Vote application form (PDF, 18KB)
• Postal Vote application form (PDF, 33KB)
• Signature Waiver Application (PDF, KB)

Further information

Proxy application forms are available to download above.

Please note that your form must be printed in accordance with our printing guidelines, as your signature and date of birth will be read electronically and the boxes must therefore be in a specific place on the page.

The guidelines are available to download as a PDF from this page, and brief instructions for printing are given below.

Printing your form

• The form must be printed on White A4 paper.
• The form must not be photocopied as this distorts the original and will make it unreadable by our software.
• The form must be single sided – i.e. there must be nothing printed on the reverse of the form – The guidance notes for each form must be a separate document to the form.
• When printed,the margins and size of the form itself must not alter– no “fit to paper” or “shrink large pages” (Please see page 2 of the guidance notes available from this page, to see an example).
• The location of the date of birth and signature boxes must not be altered
• If you cannot print to the above specifications, please contact Electoral Services on the number below and a form will be posted to you.

What is proxy voting?

If you are unable to vote in person, you can choose to vote by proxy (someone else voting on your behalf). You can apply to vote by proxy for a particular election, for a set period of time or for all future elections.

Can I apply for a proxy vote?

You can apply for a proxy vote as long as you are on the electoral register. When you apply for a proxy vote you have to provide a reason. You can apply for a proxy vote if:

• You are unable to go to the polling station for one particular election, for example, if you are away on holiday
• You have a physical condition that means you cannot go to the polling station on election day
• Your employment means that you cannot go to the polling station on election day
• Your attendance on an educational course means that you cannot go to the polling station on election day
• You are a British citizen living overseas
• You are a crown servant or a member of Her Majesty's Armed Forces

Except if you are registered blind, you may have to get someone to support your application to confirm that your reason for applying to vote by proxy is valid. Read the notes that accompany the application form to find out if you need to get someone to support your application and who can do it.

Who can vote on my behalf?

Anyone can be your proxy as long as they are eligible to vote in UK elections and they are willing to vote on your behalf and are not already acting as a Proxy for more than 2 other electors.

How do I apply to vote by proxy?

• Download a proxy vote application form from this page, or ask us for a form by phoning the number below.
• Fill in the form and make sure you include your signature and date of birth in the designated boxes.
• Return your completed form to Electoral Services (address below) so it arrives at least six working days before the election.

Why do I need to give my date of birth and signature when applying?

New regulations which came into force on 1st January 2007 require all persons applying for a proxy vote to provide their date of birth, and signature on their application form. This information is needed to tackle fraud.

What if I am unable to sign?

If you are unable to sign, because of a disability, illness, you are unable to read or write or are unable to sign in a consistent or distinctive manner, you are entitled to apply for a waiver.

A proxy vote application form, combined with a signature waiver request can be downloaded from this page (above printing instructions apply), or can be requested by contacting our Helpline on the number below.

Emergency proxy applications

It is now possible to apply for an emergency proxy, on the grounds of a medical emergency. You can only do this at the time of an election.

What happens after I've applied?

• Your proxy must go to your polling station to vote. If your proxy cannot get to the polling station, they can apply to vote for you by post. An application for a proxy to vote by post is available to download from this page.
• Your proxy will be sent a proxy poll card before the election telling them which polling station they have to go to.
• You must let your proxy know how you want them to vote on your behalf, for example, which candidate or which party.
• If you are able to go to the polling station on election day, you can still vote provided your proxy has not already done so or has not applied to vote by post.

Please return your completed application form to the address below.

Related pages on this website

• Elections – postal votes

External websites

• About My Vote (external link)

Contact us

Officer / Team	Electoral Services Team
Postal address	Blaby District Council Council Offices Desford Road Narborough Leicester LE19 2EP
E-mail address	electoral@blaby.gov.uk
Telephone	0116 272 7560
Fax	0116 272 7596

If you need this information in other languages or formats (large print, Braille or audio), please let us know when you contact us.

This page was last updated on 30th July 2009