Make Sure You Have Your Say In May - Check You're Registered To Vote
Residents who want to have their say in the Derbyshire County Council elections in May are being urged to check they are registered to vote so they don’t miss the chance.
All 64 county council seats will be available as a new council is elected for the first time in four years.
People who are not registered to vote by midnight on Monday 19 April will not be able to cast their vote on local election day, Thursday 6 May.
Some district and borough councils and Derby City Council are also holding their own council elections on the same day, as well as an election for the post of Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner.
The Government has confirmed that the local elections will go ahead despite the pandemic, and that covid-19 secure measures will be put in place at polling stations to ensure people going out to vote on 6 May will be safe.
As well as going in person to a polling station, there are other ways that people can vote, including by post or by proxy (where a person can nominate someone to vote on their behalf) but they must still be registered to apply to vote using either of these methods.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 20 April, and to apply for a vote by proxy the deadline is Tuesday 27 April.
The Government also recently announced a planned amendment to emergency proxy voting rules which will allow people who are having to self-isolate due to coronavirus to apply for an emergency proxy vote up to 5pm on election day.
Derbyshire County Council is encouraging all residents not to miss out on the chance to decide who runs the council for the next four years and represent nearly 803,000 local people living in the county.
People can wrongly assume they are registered to vote when they are not for a number of reasons. These include moving house and assuming they are automatically registered at their new address because they pay council tax. However, the two processes are completely separate and registering to pay council tax does not
mean people are automatically on the electoral register.
Those who have turned 18 since the last election in their area may not realise that this is their chance to vote for the first time and may not be registered.
District and borough councils run the county council elections at a local level on behalf of the county council, and people should visit their local council’s website to find out more about registering to vote and other election information for their area.
There is also information on the county council’s website at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/vote and www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
Derbyshire County Council Managing Executive Director Emma Alexander said: “The services provided by Derbyshire County Council touch everyone’s lives. Whether it’s roads, schools, libraries, waste disposal, home care or countryside parks, at some point they are used by us all.
“There are more than 621,800 eligible voters in the county and we want to encourage them all to use their vote on 6 May and really feel like they’ve had their say.”
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on 6 May and people who are registered should receive polling cards through the post before the election. Polling cards will tell them where to vote. Registered voters who do not receive a polling card will still be able to vote.
The votes will be counted the next day with results announced throughout Friday 7 May.
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