Article: Signature refresh for postal voters
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People in Barnsley who use a postal vote for local and parliamentary elections are reminded they must provide a new sample of their signature every five years to continue to be able to vote by post.
Ahead of the local government elections on Thursday, 3 May, Barnsley Council has written to 11,902 postal voters in the borough whose signatures now require updating.
So far, election managers report, 78 per cent (9,326) of letter recipients have responded. Elections officers are now urging those people who have not yet responded to meet the deadline to re-register to vote by post.
This week a reminder letter and new form is being posted to those people who have not yet replied. They have until Monday, 12 March, after which their postal vote will be cancelled and they will only be able to vote at their designated polling station.
Deputy Leader Cllr Jim Andrews explained: Over time, peoples signatures change, and we need to ensure an accurate record of voters signatures is kept. This is an important security measure to safeguard the integrity of postal voting and it also helps to minimise the number of postal votes rejected due to mismatched signatures by keeping these up to date.
If you have received a signature refresh letter, or a reminder letter, and have not yet returned it, please do so straight away. This will avoid your postal vote being cancelled.
Anyone who cannot sign their name or is unable to provide a consistent signature can apply to keep their postal vote without having to provide a specimen signature. For more information contact the elections team on (01226) 773070.
"" You can always apply for a postal vote at any time but you must apply before Wednesday, 18 April to be in time for the local government election on 3 May.