Voting

If you want someone to vote on your behalf, you can choose to vote by proxy.

Your proxy should:

• be over the age of 18
• be registered to vote in the election
• be someone you trust to vote on your behalf
• not already be appointed to vote as a proxy for more than 1 other person (unless that person is an overseas voter)  

Your proxy must be able to vote for you at your specified polling station. If this is not possible they may want to apply to vote for you by post.

Applying for a proxy vote

If you vote by proxy, both you and your proxy will receive a poll card if your proxy votes in person. If your proxy votes for you by post, you will not receive a proxy poll card. 

You can vote yourself if you wish, if your proxy has not already voted and has not applied to vote by post. 

When your proxy votes for you, they will need to show their ID, not yours.

The law covering voting by proxy changed on 31 October 2023. It is now possible to apply to vote by proxy using the government’s online service or by using a paper form requested from us. However, you must now provide your national insurance number as part of the application. Signatures must still be handwritten, not typed in.

If your proxy wants to vote by post, they can only ask to do this on a paper form. They can ask for a form from us using the details opposite or by emailing electoralservices@sheffield.gov.uk.  

You can also download the relevant application forms for proxy and emergency proxy voting from the Electoral Commission website. Please return completed forms by post or email to electoralservices@sheffield.gov.uk.

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm, 6 working days before polling day.

After this deadline, you can still apply for an emergency proxy before 5pm on polling day, if you meet one of the criteria below:

• you have a medical emergency
• you cannot vote in person due to work reasons
• the ID you would use to vote has been damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen
• you have applied for a voter authority certificate but haven't received it yet

What to do if your name has changed

If your name has changed (for example, through marriage or deed poll), you may be asked to provide additional supporting documents at the polling station, such as an original marriage or civil partnership certificate that provides evidence of the name change.

If the spelling of your name is different or an alternative spelling is present to the one on the electoral register, it will be at the discretion of the Presiding Officer at the polling station whether they will accept the form of ID or not.