By post
You can apply for a postal vote for future elections.
If you know you won't be able to get to the polling station on polling day, you can vote by post.
You can apply for a postal vote because you're away on holiday or because your work schedule means you can't get to polling station. You can also choose to vote by post simply because it would be more convenient for you.
When you apply for a postal vote you must provide your date of birth, National Insurance Number and a sample of your signature. When you cast your vote at an election you will need to provide your date of birth and signature again. We compare them to your original application to make sure that the person voting is the same as the person who applied for the postal vote.
We'll send your postal vote to your home address or another address you specify (you must give a reason for your vote to go to another address). You must make sure that you return it to us by 10pm on election day – if your vote arrives after then it will not be counted. If your vote does not arrive you can apply for a replacement, but you must do so by 5pm on election day.
If you miss the post, you can hand in your postal vote and/or the postal vote of others at Electoral Services, Cobbs Hall, 226 Fulham Palace Road, SW6 6LL or at 145 King Street, W6 9XY during office hours to a person authorised to receive postal votes, or at any polling station in Hammersmith & Fulham before 10pm on polling day.
Please note – If you are going to hand-deliver a postal vote to us, you will need to fill in a form when you hand it in. Please allow extra time to do this when planning your visit.
How to apply
You can apply for a postal vote online at GOV.UK.
If you are not able to apply online, please contact Electoral Services for a paper application form.
By proxy
You can appoint a proxy for future elections.
If you know that you won't be able to get to the polling station on polling day, you can ask someone you trust to cast your vote for you. This is called a proxy vote and the person casting your vote is referred to as your proxy.
If you nominate a proxy, the person you choose to vote on your behalf must be registered to vote themselves.
The person voting on your behalf can either go to your polling station to cast your vote, or they can apply to vote for you by post. If they choose to vote for you in person at your polling station, they will need to show their own photo ID to cast your vote. They will not need to show your ID.
How to apply
The following proxy applications are available to complete online at GOV.UK:
- proxy application for a particular election
- proxy applications for overseas and service voters.
Please contact Electoral Services if you require an ongoing proxy due to disability, employment or education as you cannot apply online for these applications.
Application for proxy to vote by post
Those who have been officially appointed as proxies to vote on behalf of someone else do that at the elector's local allocated polling station on polling day.
If they are unable to vote in person they can apply to cast that elector's vote by post to their home address.
Contact Electoral Services
Electoral Services
Hammersmith Town Hall
King Street
Hammersmith
London W6 9JU
Phone: 020 8753 4466