Newly enacted legislation means postal votes must be renewed every three years.
We’ve sent letters and emails to around 13,000 residents to remind them to renew their postal vote and roughly 6,000 of them have not yet renewed.
The people we’ve contacted signed up for their postal vote before October 2023.
Anyone who does not renew their vote will be removed from the postal vote list on 31 January 2026.
Under the Election Act 2022, people with a postal vote now need to renew it every three years to remain on the postal vote list. This is the first year that this change will impact voters.
Anyone whose postal vote is cancelled will still be able to vote in person at a polling station if they are on the electoral register and have the correct ID.
Matthew Tiller, Returning Officer for East Hampshire District Council, said:
“The recent change to the regulations around postal votes may not be something that residents are fully aware of, and we don’t want people who are expecting to receive a postal vote for the next election to be caught out by falling off the list.”