Wellingborough by-election - photo ID, postal votes, and how long you have to register for poll

With the Wellingborough by-election scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 15, for the first-time voters will need to bring a form of photo ID to the polling station.

This is following a new legislation introduced in May 2023, which states that all residents voting in person must bring a form of photo ID with them.

And voters living in and around Wellingborough and Rushden have until the end of this month to get on the electoral register.

So here’s our everything you need to know guide – except who to vote for.

Accepted forms of ID

- United Kingdom passport/passport issued by an EEA state or a Commonwealth country

- Valid driving licence – including provisional licences

- Biometric immigration document

- PASS card an identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram

- Defence identity card

- Older Person’s Bus Pass, Disabled Person’s Bus Pass, Oyster 60+ Card , Freedom Pass

- Blue Badge

- Electoral identity document

- Anonymous elector’s document

- Electoral identity card

- National identity card issued by an EEA state

Only original documents will be accepted – photos or digital copies of IDs will not be allowed.

If you do not have any of these acceptable photo IDs you can still apply for a voter authority certificate on the government website.

You will only need to apply for a voter authority certificate if:

- You do not have accepted photo ID

- You no longer look like the photo on your ID

- The name on your photo ID is different to your name on the electoral register

Postal Votes

If you are already registered as a postal voter, you will receive a postal voting pack by post.

The deadline to return your postal vote by post or handing it in to any polling station is by 10pm on Thursday, February 15.

If you are not already a postal voter, you can complete a postal vote application form and submit it to the electoral registration office by 5pm on Wednesday, January 31.

Proxy voting

If you won’t be able to get to the polling station to vote on day of poll, you can ask someone you trust to vote on your behalf. This is called voting by proxy and the person voting on your behalf is referred to as your nominated proxy.

To vote by proxy, you can complete a proxy application form and submit it to the electoral registration office by 5pm on Wednesday, February 7.

Your appointed proxy must show their own accepted form of photo ID at the polling station.

Full details can be found on North Northamptonshire Council website.