Stand for a Council or as PCC? Here’s how – or just get a postal vote?

In the middle of last month we ran a piece with a link to a Wiltshire Council ‘webinar’ which was there to tell you how to stand for election.

Wiltshire Council are now accepting nominations for the 6 May elections, whilst also opening up the application process for a postal vote.

There’s a lot of voting to be done on 6 May. Elections will be held for County Council seats, the Police & Crime Comissioner for the entire County, Town / Parish Councils (maybe – depending on number of candidates) and also a referendum (in certain areas) on that area’s Neighbourhood Plan.

Under normal circumstances this would require a lot of pencil to be used up, but due to potential long waits, social distancing, one-way systems and everything else people should bring their own pen to cast their vote.

But, due to the pandemic the Returning Officer for Wiltshire is encouraging the use of postal voting, trying to get as many people as possible to register to vote via the post.

How – either call the council on 0300 456 0112 or click here to visit the site where you can get more information, register and get a form sent out as to avoid the risk of fraud, a signature is required when applying for a postal vote.

To manage the counting of the large number of elections, and to keep everyone safe, the verification and counts will be spread over four days, from 7-10 May.

The council will also do everything it can to keep polling stations and count centres as safe as possible for voters and staff by making sure venues are COVID-secure, but people should expect to see some changes to previous elections if they decide to vote in person.

Terence Herbert, Wiltshire Council’s Chief Executive and Wiltshire’s Returning Officer, said: “It’s a busy time but we’re making good progress and getting all the arrangements in place to ensure safe and democratic elections.

“Even though COVID case numbers are heading in the right direction, I urge everyone to vote by post if they can as this is the safest and most convenient way for people to have their say.”

Want to stand? Click here to find out how to stand as a Councillor, or here to stand for election as the Police & Crime Commissioner.

People should visit https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-2021 for all the information they need on the upcoming elections, including a booking system for submitting nominations.

The unitary election notices can be found at  https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-unitary

The Police and Crime Commissioner Election notice can be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-pcc

The Town and Parish election notices can be found at  https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-town-parish

A list of key dates for the overall programme of elections is set out below:

• Delivery of nomination papers (people wishing to stand for election) from 12 March – 8 April (4pm)
• Publication of those nominated – 9 April
• Deadline for registering to vote – 19 April
• Deadline for registering to vote by post or postal proxy applications – 20 April (5pm)
• Deadline for receiving new applications to vote by proxy – 27 April (5pm)
• Polling day – 6 May (7am – 10pm)
• Verification/count – 7 – 10 May