Am I able to vote?
To be able to vote you must be on the electoral register and be 18 or over on or before polling day. If you’re a citizen of a Commonwealth or EU member state registered to vote in England or Wales, you are entitled do so in these local elections.
The last date to register in time to be able to vote on May 1st is Wednesday April 16th.
If you’re on the register, and would find it more convenient to vote by post, you can apply for a postal vote up to Wednesday 16th April. More information about postal voting and for a postal vote application form
Contact Electoral Services at your local District/Borough Council (check the phone book or go to their website for contact details) if you’re not sure whether you’re registered or you want a postal vote.
Polling hours will be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday 1st May. Those who have postal votes should expect to receive their ballot paper from around the 18th/19th of April onwards.
Does my Council have elections this year?
If you’re not sure whether your Council has elections this year or not, you can find out by visiting About my Vote
Which Ward am I in?
Voting takes places in sub-divisions of a Council area called Wards. In those Councils re-electing all their seats, every Ward has an election. In some Council areas with elections, some Wards have an election this year, whilst others do not. You can only vote in the Ward in which you are a registered elector.
To find out which Ward you are in examine your polling card from your Council, ring the Council's Electoral Services Department, visit the Council's website or use the ‘Explore – Local area – My Council and reps’ pathway at Up My Street, enter your postcode, then under the displayed Council page select ‘My representatives’.
Using your votes in wards with more than one seat up for election
- Councils re-electing all of their seats at once this year have many Wards with 2 or 3 seats (and sometimes 4 or 5) up for election in them. Elsewhere there may be 2 seats up for election in the event of a co-incident by-election. The number of seats up for election is indicated in brackets after the Ward name in our list of candidates.
- You will have as many votes as there are seats.
- If the Green Party is standing as many candidates as there are seats in your Ward, we would urge you to vote for all of our candidates. Where we get two or more candidates elected they have "official Group" status which gives them much more influence on the council. We can also be sure of getting our motions seconded so that Green concerns have to be debated in the council chamber - this gives them a higher profile and prevents the other Parties from brushing them under the carpet.
- You do not have to use all of your votes.
- If the Green Party is standing less candidates than there are seats up for election in your Ward, they will have the best chance of election if you only vote for them. Votes for candidates of other Parties will, in a sense, cancel out your Green vote because the Green candidate(s) need(s) to get more votes than the other candidates in order to get elected.
- You do not have to cast all your votes for the same Party.
- If you normally support another Party and want to continue doing so, but never-the-less believe that the Green Party's point of view should be heard on your council, please consider giving us at least one of your votes. The Local Green Party's leaflets and other promotional work may have indicated which of the Green candidates they would most like you to vote for if you only feel able to give us some of your votes at this time.
You may find the Green Party candidates described on the ballot paper as:
Green Party first choice candidate / Green Party second choice candidate / Green Party third choice candidate / Green Party fourth choice candidate / Green Party fifth choice candidate /
or as
Green Party lead candidate as a further aid to those of you who want to give us some, but not all of, your votes.
By focussing such votes on selected candidates we have a greater chance of getting at least one Green elected.
To find out more about the Local Green Party in your area, and its policies for these local elections, please click here