How to vote

Postal vote expiry reapplication process

Under the Elections Act 2022, changes were implemented for postal voters. Residents could previously hold permanent postal votes which never expired but required the signature to be refreshed every five years. This has been replaced with the requirement to reapply for a postal vote every three years. 

So under the new legislation: 

  • the postal vote application expires, and 
  • a new application must be made to continue holding a postal vote 
  • postal votes are valid for a maximum of three years
  • residents applying for a postal vote must give their national insurance number as an added security measure.

What we need to do

All local authorities need to start their postal vote reapplication process, where we need to contact electors whose postal votes are due to expire on 31 January 2026 to give details on how to reapply for a postal vote, if you wish to.

Who is being contacted

We are contacting residents with postal votes applied for prior to 30 January 2024. If you applied for a postal vote after this date, you do not need to reapply for your postal vote yet and will be contacted at a later date instead. 

Please note expiry dates may differ for residents in the same household as it will be dependent on the individual’s most recent postal vote application date. 

How we will contact you

We will contact you throughout September 2025 and may send a reminder email in late Autumn. 

If you have provided us with an email address and consented to it being used for electoral registration purposes, we will contact you by email first. We will be using GOV Notify to securely reach out to residents and refer them to the online postal vote application service. 

If we do not have your email address, we will post a paper form out to you in September 2025. You may also receive a paper form if you have not reapplied after receiving an email. 

What you need to do 

You will be contacted by email or by a paper form, asking you to reapply for a postal vote. If you still want to continue voting by post after 31 January 2026, you will need to reapply: 

To receive a postal ballot pack, you must make a valid application by 5pm, 11 working days prior to the next election date.

If you no longer wish to vote by post, please let us know by email ballotbox@slough.gov.uk and we can cancel your postal vote. This will stop any reminder letters being sent to you.

If you do not reapply for your postal vote by 31 January 2026, it will be cancelled. You will still be eligible to vote at your local polling station.

Is the email received genuine

We appreciate the need to check emails are genuine, more so if being asked to go to links and provide personal information.

Here are some tips you can use to check the email is genuine:

  • the email is from Slough Borough Council Electoral Services
  • the subject of the email is 'Action Required – Postal Vote Expiring'
  • it includes the Slough Borough Council logo
  • it has our contact details at the bottom of the email.

You do not have to use the link in the email. If you wish to reapply for your postal vote but you are still unsure about the email you can use any of the ways shown in the 'What you need to do' section above to reapply.

We will also send paper forms to residents later this year if we have not received a response from our email.