Cambridgeshire County Council postal voters reminded about changes to handing in their vote

Postal votes are beginning to arrive on doormats ahead of the elections on Thursday, May 1 to appoint councillors to Cambridgeshire County Council and a Mayor to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

Postal voters in Fenland will receive combined postal vote packs containing two ballot papers — one for each of the elections taking place.

The law on postal vote handling changed last year, so remember to read the information in your postal vote pack carefully to ensure your vote is counted.

Postal votes can no longer be left in the letterbox at the council offices at Fenland Hall, in County Road, March.

They must either be:

-Returned via Royal Mail, in the pre-paid envelope included;

-Hand-delivered with a completed postal vote return form, which includes some personal information (name and address) and a declaration;

-Hand-delivered postal votes, with completed forms, can be handed to an authorised officer at Fenland Hall during office hours (9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday) or at any polling station in the electoral area on polling day.

Any postal votes left at any council building without the completed postal vote return form will be rejected.

Under the rules, people handing in postal votes are also limited to handing in no more than five postal votes for other electors, plus their own postal vote per election (six in total).

Fenland District Council is encouraging electors to return postal votes via Royal Mail, in the pre-paid envelope included with the ballot papers, as this removes the requirement to complete the postal vote return form.

Postal vote return forms are available from authorised officers at the council offices at Fenland Hall.

For more information, visit: www.fenland.gov.uk/postalvote

Proxy vote

If you’re unable to get to your polling station to vote in person at the elections and didn’t apply for a postal vote before the deadline, there’s still time to nominate someone to cast your vote for you (known as a proxy vote).

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on Wednesday, April 23.

For more information, visit: www.fenland.gov.uk/proxy

Voter ID

You will need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations.

If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID, you can apply for a free voter ID document, known as a Voter Authority Certificate.

The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate is 5pm on Wednesday, April 23.

For more information, visit: www.fenland.gov.uk/voterID

If you have any questions, contact the elections team at Fenland District Council at: elections@fenland.gov.uk or call 01354 654321.

For more information on the elections, visit: www.fenland.gov.uk/elections2025