As it stands, come next Spring more than 9,000 residents in Reading could find themselves waiting for postal vote which may never arrive.
That’s because, despite the best efforts of our electoral services team, around half of the 18,000 existing postal voters in the town have yet to respond to Council letters.
The process to remind postal voters that a change in law means they must now reapply for their postal votes every three years began some months ago. Correspondence has taken the form of letters through doors, as well as emails where the team holds them.
Before the change, postal votes could last indefinitely, with the main requirement being to provide an updated signature every five years. We are all creatures of habit however, so if we have not had to reapply for our postal votes previously it understandably wouldn’t occur to people. That is why the Council is working so hard to get the message out there and will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead.
The deadline to reapply is 31 January 2026. At that point, where a resident has failed to reapply, the Council is required by law to remove their postal vote, which may come as a surprise with May’s local elections on the horizon.
Losing our postal vote is not the same thing as losing your vote of course. Provided they are registered to vote, people will still be able to visit a polling station on the day. In fact, I know lots of residents who much prefer the tradition of visiting their local polling station in person in order to cast their vote. But there are also thousands of others we know prefer the ease and speed of voting by post.
If you are one of those, and you have not yet responded to Council letter and emails about reapplying, please do take some time to dig out that letter or trawl through your inbox for that old email and follow the instructions.
If you can’t find it, don’t worry. The quickest and simplest way for electors to reapply is online at www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote. If you are unable make an online application, contact the elections team and ask for a form to be posted to you. You can phone them on 0118 937 3717 or email elections@reading.gov.uk.
So, if you know of someone who usually votes by post, please do ask them if they have reapplied. There are still a few months to go before the deadline, but we want to bring that 9,000 figure down considerably before then!
Councillor Liz Terry, Leader of the Council
