Legislative Changes - New for 2009
Introduction of Personal Identifiers for Postal Voting
If you have applied for a new postal vote for these elections or if you already have a postal vote or a postal proxy you will have been asked by the Electoral Registration Officer to supply your date of birth and signature (in the case of a postal proxy you will have also been asked to supply the date of birth and signature of the person whom you have appointed as your proxy.) These are called Personal Identifiers.
At the European Parliamentary Election on the 4 June 2009 you will receive a Postal Voting Statement with your ballot paper. On the Postal Voting Statement you will be requested to complete your date of birth and signature prior to returning it with your ballot paper unless you have requested a "waiver". (If you are unable to provide a signature then you may request the Electoral Registration Officer to waive this requirement. Further information on applying for a "waiver" can be obtained from the Electoral Registration Officer.)
All Local Returning Officers are now required to check a minimum of 20% of all personal identifiers on postal voting statements returned and compare them with those previously supplied on your postal voting application. The Local Returning Officer in Angus will be undertaking a 100% check of personal identifiers as a matter of good practice.
This measure has been introduced to help decrease fraud in the postal voting process.