Voting as a proxy for someone else

You may be asked to vote on behalf of someone else if they’re unable to vote in person. This is called a proxy vote.

To be a proxy you must be:

registered to vote
allowed to vote in the type of election taking place

Who you can be a proxy for

You can be a proxy for either:

up to 2 people
up to 4 people if at least 2 of them are registered to vote from abroad

Proxy voting for someone registered to vote from abroad

The person you’re a proxy for will have registered to vote from abroad if they’re either:

a British citizen living abroad (known as an ‘overseas voter’)
living abroad because of work for the armed forces or the Government (known as a ‘service voter’)

Service voters

Service voters make a ‘service declaration’ when they register to vote. They must be either:

an armed forces member posted abroad, or their spouse or civil partner
a Crown servant or British Council employee posted abroad, or their spouse or civil partner

Proxy voting in person

Before you vote you should find out which candidate (or referendum outcome) the person wants to vote for.

You’ll need to vote at the polling station where the person you’re a proxy for usually votes. This may be a different polling station to where you vote.

You may need to show photo ID to vote in some elections. Check what photo ID you’ll need. You do not need to show the ID of the person you are the proxy for.

Proxy voting by post

If you cannot get to the polling station you can apply to vote as a proxy by post.

You’ll need to apply separately even if you already vote by post for yourself.

How to vote