Electors in Shetland who have previously chosen to vote by post at UK Parliamentary Elections are being asked to reapply if they wish to continue to have a postal vote.
The Elections Act 2022 brought changes to the administration of postal voting, requiring a reapplication to be made every three years for all postal votes in place for UK Parliamentary elections. Letters have recently been sent out to local electors by the Electoral Registration Officer, to all who need to reapply.
These changes mean that all UK Parliamentary Elections postal votes applied for before 31 January 2024 will now expire on 31 January 2026. Those who set up a new postal vote ahead of the General Election in July 2024 will not receive a letter at this time.
This arrangement does not affect Scottish Parliamentary and local council elections, the Electoral Registration Officer will contact electors separately regarding postal votes for these elections.
Ian Leslie, Depute Electoral Registration Officer for Orkney and Shetland, says: ‘We are writing to UK Parliamentary postal voters to give them early opportunity to make new applications for their postal votes, ahead of January 2026. All applications made between now and that date will have the same future expiry date. This gives all electors plenty of time to make new applications for UK Parliamentary postal votes which can now be made online and details are included in the letter. The option to complete a paper application remains available to electors who may not have the facility to apply online or may not wish to do so.”
The Electoral Registration Office located at 20 Commercial Road, Lerwick can be contacted by phone on 01595 745700 or by email ero@shetland.gov.uk