To be able to vote you must be registered on the Electoral Register.
Voting in Person
Voter ID - Important Information
This is a national change to voting that will take place for all elections.
You will need to bring photo identification to be able to vote at a polling station.
You can find all the information on this from the Electoral Commission (www.electoralcommission.org.uk).
Poll cards are delivered shortly before an Election. Each member of the household who is eligible to vote should receive a poll card which informs them of the date of the election, where their polling station is and the hours of poll. You do not need to take the poll card with you to be able to vote.
- For Local and Parliamentary Elections the hours of poll are 7.00am to 10.00pm
- On arrival at your designated polling station, the Presiding Officer will ask you to confirm your name and address, will ask to see your photo identification and will issue you with a ballot paper.
- You should take the ballot paper to the voting booth and mark with a 'X' the candidate you wish to vote for.
- Fold the ballot paper and deposit it in the ballot box.
Voting by Post
You can apply for a postal vote online (gov.uk) or by completing a postal vote paper application form (Electoral Commission).
You can choose to vote by post:
- For the maximum period which is up to 3 years
- For an election held on a particular date
- For all future elections until a certain specified date
The deadline to apply to vote by post is 5pm no later than 11 working days before polling day.
In a bid to combat fraud, all postal votes will now be subject to signature checking. When you make an application to vote by post, you will be asked to provide your National Insurance Number, a specimen signature, and your date of birth.
When a postal vote has been posted to you, you cannot vote in person at a polling station.
If you move house, you must notify the Elections Office as soon as possible or you won't receive your postal vote at your new address.
The date the postal votes are dispatched varies from election to election and if you are applying for a postal vote because you are going away, we strongly advise you to contact the office to clarify dates.
You must be able to sign your name to vote by post. If you are unable to sign, you may need to request a Postal Vote Waiver application. Power of Attorney does not apply to postal voting.
Proxy Vote
You can apply for a proxy vote online (gov.uk) or by completing a proxy vote paper application form (gov.uk) and returning it to the Elections Office.
If you will be away from home and will not be able to vote in person or be able to receive your postal ballot paper, you may prefer to appoint someone on your behalf using a Proxy Vote. This person does not need to be a relative, just someone you know and trust. That person will receive a letter to hand into your polling station and that will enable them to vote on your behalf.
The person you appoint to vote must show their own photographic ID at the polling station to be able to vote.
There is a limit on the number of electors for whom a person may act as a proxy. A person will only be able to act as proxy for up to 2 electors residing in the UK, or up to 4 electors living overseas.
The deadline to apply to vote by proxy is 5pm no later than 6 working days before polling day.
Emergency Proxy Vote
In certain circumstances, where you have an emergency that means you can't vote in person, you can apply for an emergency proxy.
This must be something that you weren't aware of before the normal proxy vote application deadline which is 5pm no later than 6 working days before polling day, such as:
- You have a medical emergency
- You are away for work
- Your photo ID is lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged
Please contact the Elections Office for more information on how to apply.
Overseas Voter
If you are a British citizen living abroad, you can apply to be an overseas voter.
As long as you were registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years, you can register to vote from overseas.
If you were too young to register when you left the UK your parent or guardian must have been registered.