Changes to the way postal voting is to be carried out are to be introduced for the 2007 local elections. The changes follow abuses to the voting system carried out in past local elections elsewhere in the country. Fortunately, Gateshead was free of any such incidents.
Nevertheless, the integrity of postal voting is to be strengthened. People with a postal vote will no longer have to have the signature of a witness. They will have to continue to sign a declaration of identity form which is returned with the postal vote (in a separate envelope) and they will now have to include their date of birth. This is designed to stop the theft of postal votes before they arrive at a person’s house.
However, the effect of this change is to make all existing postal votes null and void. This is because Electoral Registration Officers have not previously needed to collect dates of birth.
As this information is now needed, all those currently with an automatic postal vote will need to re-apply. No one needs to do this yet as the requirement only comes into force next year. However, the Council will need to decide how to invite people to re-apply over the coming months. Gateshead News will keep you in touch with any developments on this.
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