UK citizens living abroad - voting in the U.K. general election, how are you doing it?

[Melassa]

I’ve just got my vote back after many years of disenfranchisement so I’m keen to use it. However, the election date is when I’ll be on the other side of the world so I can’t travel to the U.K.

The remaining options are postal or proxy vote, so I’ll probably need to opt for the former. The postal vote seems to leave very little time, has anyone had experience of it not arriving in time?

Also, going forward, can I change my place of registration? It’s where I lived when I was at school and no one I know lives anywhere near anymore, so that rules out a proxy vote for now, but I’d like to make it easier for the future.

I have a proxy postal vote. I was registered to vote in Scotland and my proxy lives in the midlands. It's not an issue. Was very easy to get set up.

I no longer vote in the UK but when I first moved here I had a proxy vote (my mum). I trusted her far more than a postal vote.

Proxy postal vote here too. Posted from our constituency to daughter, she fills it in and puts it back in the post.

DD and her partner are temporarily working abroad. They can't get back for 4th July. They've got me down as a proxy, it wasn't that hard but I had to call the local authority to check on how it works, and they had to keep asking more senior people behind the scenes to get the information for me.

I don't think you can have a postal vote sent to an overseas address? I read that somewhere on one of the official sites. Even if you could I'd be concerned that the vote wouldn't arrive in time, the post is so awful nowadays. (Though strangely often better for international items!)

I think your proxy can live in a different constituency from your registered UK address, and they can then do a postal vote for you by proxy which is for your area. No idea how you'd change your registered UK address or if it's possible, sorry.

I registered for a postal vote and the papers will be sent here. (Italy)

@Melassa I'm registered at the constituency I last voted in when I was 18! (I'm 58) I tried to register at the last town I lived in the UK but couldn't provide any documents showing I'd lived there. So did it in my "home" one, who accepted my proven links documents. They asked for further evidence other than the deeds to the house I was born in and now own, and I ended up sending them a wage slip from my Saturday job and my old school reports and they accepted me.

Mine is by postal vote

Oh right! I don't know what I read then, or I suppose I must have misread it. Thanks for the info.

Not sure now where I read it, but bodies like local authorities sometimes do give information that's not correct, like one stated that the proxy voter had to be closely related to the voter, but that's not true, just someone you trust.

I've registered for a postal vote and my ballot papers were due to be sent out yesterday.

Tbh, the blurb on both the gov website and my home electoral office is needlessly wordy.

I've just checked, and if nothing arrives by the cut off date for a proxy I'll do that.

Sod's law is also that in any case I'll be in the UK on election day, just the wrong bit of the country 😂

That's interesting, thanks. I was wondering when they would be sent out.

I think your proxy can live in a different constituency from your registered UK address, and they can then do a postal vote for you by proxy which is for your area.

Yep, that’s what I am doing this time around to avoid postal delays on overseas mail.

Easy to set up but takes slightly more time to set up than some of the other methods.

It probably depends on the council, but I emailed Westminster electoral services to ask as I was considering switching to a proxy vote. I should be able to post my vote from within the UK providing the papers arrive by the 25th (fingers crossed!).

Postal vote, and friends are bringing papers out with them when they visit soon; I'll get it done there and then and they'll post when they get home.

Proxy postal. Quite easy to set up. I don't trust post to get it here or back on time.

My mum is my proxy

I am in Spain and just applied for a postal vote. There was no option for a proxy postal vote. It was just proxy in person or postal but I didn't know if I could put in a uk address and get someone in the UK to do it so I put my Spanish address. Not sure it will get here in time.

Thanks all. In the end I’m doing a proxy postal vote. The constituency emailed me to remind me if polling day and there was info re the proxy and the postal votes. They advised against postal votes as they wouldn’t be sending them out before the 26th so it will never arrive on time.

Anyway, filled in the proxy form online, got confirmation it was accepted and they will contact my proxy to organise either an in person vote or a postal one.

I don’t even know who is standing in the constituency, I’d better have a look!

I'm flying back to vote. I feel it's a really important vote and I have had problems with proxy/postal votes in the past where they were not in the same borough where I am registered to vote. Happy voting everyone !

Well, I got contacted re a proxy vote, including proxy postal. I filled in the form the same day, my proxy got a letter 2 days later, she filled in her firm for a postal vote the same day and returned it first class priority, only to get a notice it’s too late as the closing date was the 19th (not indicated anywhere). I mean wtf! Surely there’s enough time to send off a postal vote from within the UK?