Trade Union Members Get Electronic Voting From August 2026 — What Changes

If you're a member of a trade union, how you vote in ballots is about to change. From late August 2026, unions will be able to offer electronic and workplace balloting as an alternative to the postal-only system that has applied to statutory ballots for decades.

What's actually changing

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, members will be able to vote electronically or in person at their workplace — rather than exclusively by post — for industrial action ballots, union elections and other statutory votes, provided the employer and union agree to it. The government laid the Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 before Parliament on 22 June 2026, alongside a revised Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Balloting, expected to come into force by 31 August 2026, subject to final parliamentary approval.

Recognition and derecognition ballots — the votes that determine whether a union is formally recognised at a workplace at all — will follow later, with e-balloting for those expected in 2027.

Why this matters if you're a union member

Postal ballots have long been criticised for depressing turnout, particularly among younger and more mobile workers who move house frequently or don't reliably check post. Electronic and workplace voting is expected to make it easier and faster for members to participate, potentially increasing turnout on ballots that determine everything from pay disputes to strike action.

Checklist: what to expect as a member

• Ask your union rep or branch whether your specific union has agreed to adopt electronic or workplace balloting once the Code of Practice takes effect.
• Make sure your union has your current email address and mobile number on file — electronic voting depends on accurate contact details.
• Understand that postal voting isn't being scrapped; it remains available as an option where the employer and union haven't agreed to the alternative methods.
• If your workplace offers in-person balloting, check where and when voting stations will be available during any live ballot.
• Keep an eye on communications from your union in August and September as this rolls out — implementation will vary by union and by employer.

The bigger picture

This is one part of a much larger set of changes flowing from the Employment Rights Act 2025, which has already reshaped statutory sick pay, unfair dismissal qualifying periods and workplace access rights for union officials earlier in 2026. Ballot reform has been a long-standing union demand, on the basis that modernising voting methods strengthens, rather than weakens, the legitimacy of any resulting industrial action.

International comparison

Electronic balloting for union votes is already well established elsewhere. In the US, many unions have used electronic and phone-based voting for internal elections for years under National Labor Relations Board-adjacent rules, while Australian unions under the Fair Work Commission framework have had access to electronic voting options for enterprise agreement ballots since the mid-2010s. The UK's postal-only requirement for statutory ballots — introduced in the 1980s amid concerns about ballot-rigging — has long been an outlier by comparison.

Key Numbers

• 31 August 2026 — expected in-force date for the new Code of Practice
• 22 June 2026 — date the enabling Order was laid before Parliament
• 2027 — expected extension of e-balloting to recognition/derecognition votes

Sources

• Union electronic balloting 2026: key changes employers need to know — Browne Jacobson
• UK advances trade union balloting reforms — Morgan Lewis
• Employment Rights Act 2025 — Acas

Educational content only — not financial advice.