‘Vote Early, Post Early’ for May 6 elections, say Royal Mail and the Electoral Commission

With a number of elections taking place in England, Scotland and Wales on May 6, Royal Mail and the Electoral Commission are reminding people who have registered for a postal vote not to delay sending in their completed ballots.

• The ongoing impact of the pandemic means that more people may be considering a postal vote
• Voters across Great Britain will go to the polls on 6 May with elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, English local government, Police and Crime Commissioners, London Assembly, and combined authority, local and London mayors
• While voters can post their votes until a latest recommended posting date of May 4, Royal Mail and the Electoral Commission are reminding people to post their votes as early as they can – once they have made a decision
• Ballot packs and postal votes are marked by a purple flash to help identify them during the sortation and delivery process
• In addition to Royal Mail’s extensive post box network, postal voters will be able to make use of the Company’s priority post box service when they are returning their completed ballot papers.

With elections taking place across Great Britain on 6 May, Royal Mail and the Electoral Commission are encouraging those voting by post not to delay in sending back their packs once they have made their decision.

While voters can post their votes until a latest recommended posting date of May 4, postal voters are being reminded to post their votes as early as they can.

While it is still safe to visit a local polling station, the ongoing impact of the pandemic means that postal voting is likely to be a popular choice for many voters. Royal Mail and the Electoral Commission are reminding voters who have received their postal ballot pack and made their decision, to return it early to help spread the volume. Royal Mail colleagues are looking out for the ballot packs and postal votes which are marked by a purple flash to help identify them in the sortation and delivery process

Postal voters will be able to make use of Royal Mail’s extensive post box network when they are returning their completed ballot paper, including 35,000 priority postboxes designed to aid the Government’s coronavirus testing programme. As well as offering later collection times on a Saturday, 15,000 of them offer collection on a Sunday. The nearest special post box to you can be found using this link https://www.royalmail.com/services-near-you#/.

Voters should post their ballot paper by a latest recommended posting date of 4 May to ensure they can be counted. Postal votes can also be handed into polling stations and local authorities up until 10pm on 6 May.

Royal Mail is due to run a special postmark on stamped mail as a further reminder to post early on April 23, 24 and 25 as well as on May 3 and May 4.

David Gold, Director of External Affairs & Policy, Royal Mail said: “Given the ongoing impact of the pandemic, we recognise the vital role postal votes have to play in the upcoming May 6 elections.  Do look out for your ballot pack – with its distinctive purple flash – and post as early as you can to make sure your vote is safely counted.”

Craig Westwood, Director of Communications, Policy and Research, at the Electoral Commission said: “Absent voting is likely to play an important role in the May elections given the public health situation. Postal ballots are now being sent out to people that have applied for one. We are encouraging those that have already decided how they will vote, not to wait until the deadline and to complete and return their postal pack as soon as they are ready.”

For more information visit: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voting-person-post-or-proxy/voting-post  

For more information on postal voting visit https://www.royalmail.com/business/manage-mail/postal-voting and electoralcommission.org.uk 

Elections taking place on 6 May 2021 include:

• Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliamentary
• Scottish Parliamentary
• English local government elections (includes polls postponed from May 2020), including elections to county, district and parish councils
• Police and Crime Commissioners (polls postponed from May 2020)
• Combined Authority Mayoral (includes polls postponed from May 2020)
• Local Mayoral (includes polls postponed from May 2020)
• Mayor of London and London Assembly (polls postponed from May 2020)