# The Absent Voting (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026, Regulation 25: Expiry of certain postal vote entitlements and proxy postal vote entitlements for local government elections in Scotland


(1) This regulation applies where either paragraph (2) or (3) applies.
(2) Immediately before the relevant day a person (“P”) has—
(a) a postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland, and
(b) P’s postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland lasts for—
(i) an indefinite period, or
(ii) a period that would expire after the third 31 January following the relevant day.
(3) Immediately before the relevant day a person (“P”) has—
(a) a proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland and does not have a reserved proxy postal vote entitlement, and
(b) P’s proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland lasts for—
(i) an indefinite period, or
(ii) a period that would expire after the third 31 January following the relevant day.
(4) Unless it ends sooner, P’s postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland or proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland ends on—
(a) the transitional expiry date, or
(b) if applicable and later the reserved expiry date.
(5) As soon as practicable after the relevant day, the registration officer must update—
(a) the records, as applicable to P, kept under paragraph 3(4), 3(9) or 7(6) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act,
(b) the postal voters list or proxy postal voters list, as applicable to P, kept under paragraph 5(2) or 7(8) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act,
to reflect any change in the period for which P’s postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland or proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland lasts due to the operation of paragraph (4).
(6) Before the date on which P’s postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland or proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland is to end due to the operation of paragraph (4), the registration officer must send to P, at P’s qualifying address—
(a) a notice informing P of the date on which P’s postal vote entitlement for local government elections or proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland is to end,
(b) information about how to make a fresh application to vote by post (as elector or as proxy).
(7) Paragraph (8) applies where, due to the operation of paragraph (4), P’s postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland or proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland is to end on the signature refresh date.
(8) Any requirement to send P a regulation 60A notice by the signature refresh date does not apply, unless—
(a) P has a reserved proxy entitlement that continues beyond that date, and
(b) regulation 60A of the 2001 Regulations apply in relation to that entitlement.
(9) In this regulation—
“postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland” means an entitlement to vote by post at local government elections in Scotland, where the entitlement was granted before the relevant day on an application under paragraph 3(1), 3(7) or 7(4) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act,
“proxy postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland” means an entitlement to vote by post, as proxy at local government elections in Scotland, where the entitlement was granted before the relevant day on an application under paragraph 7(4) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act,
“reserved expiry date” means the date on which a P’s reserved postal vote entitlement, if they have one, ends, in accordance with paragraph 3(1A) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act,
“signature refresh date” means the 31 January, as applicable to P, by which the registration officer would or may be required to send to P—
(a) a regulation 15A notice due to P’s signature held on the personal identifiers record kept by the registration officer under section 21(6) (absent vote applications: provision of personal identifiers) of the 2006 Act being more than 5 years old, or
(b) a regulation 60A notice,
assuming there has been no change in the P’s entitlement or entitlements to vote by post or by proxy after the relevant day, and disregarding the effect of paragraph 8 of this regulation and the amendments made by regulation 14 of these Regulations and the amendments made by article 2 of the Absent Voting (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2026,
“the transitional expiry date” means—
(a) the third 31 January following the relevant day, or
(b) if sooner, the signature refresh date for the postal vote entitlement for local government elections in Scotland.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2026/9780111065211/regulation/25 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-absent-voting-miscellaneous-amendment-scotland-regulations-2026/regulation-25
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.