If you know that you won’t be able to get to the polling station on polling day, you can vote by post or ask someone you trust to cast your vote for you, which is called a proxy vote.

You can now apply online to vote by post and for some types of proxy vote. You will need to prove your identity when applying, by providing your National Insurance number.

There are limits to how many people a voter can act as a proxy for. This means you can only act as a proxy for two people living in the UK.

If you act as a proxy for people living overseas, you can act as proxy for up to four people but only two of these can be based in the UK.

The changes apply to all elections in England.

Find out more on how to apply to vote by post or for a proxy vote online