Get Ready to Vote in General Election – And Don’t Forget Your Photo-ID
The UK goes to the polls in a General Election this Thursday (4 July) and Ribble Valley residents are reminded that they will be voting in a new constituency.
The forthcoming General Election will be fought on new constituency boundaries, which have been redrawn to reflect population changes and distribute the number of voters more equally.
Residents in the former Ribble Valley constituency will now vote in one of two new constituencies: Pendle and Clitheroe, or Ribble Valley.
The list of candidates, or statement of persons nominated, for Ribble Valley is available at ribblevalley.gov.uk.
The list of candidates, or statement of persons nominated, for Pendle and Clitheroe is available at pendle.gov.uk.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm and you will be able to cast your vote in person, unless you have registered to vote by post.
Once inside the polling station, you will be asked for your name and address, and photo-ID, or voter authority certificate, and your details checked against the electoral register.
You will be given a ballot paper listing the candidates, which you take to a polling booth and mark a cross (X) in the box to the right of the name of the candidate you want to vote for. You then fold the ballot paper in half and put it in the ballot box.
Please do not to write anything else on the ballot paper, or your vote may not be counted.
And if you need help completing your ballot paper you can take a companion with you, or polling station staff will be happy to help.
If you intend voting in person, you will need to show photo-ID, such as a passport, driving licence or bus pass, and you can even use expired ID if you are recognisable from the photo.
If you can’t get to the polling station due to a last-minute emergency you can ask someone you trust to vote for you, called a proxy vote.
Applications to vote by proxy on the grounds of a medical emergency, being called away for work or your photo-ID is lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged, can be made until 5pm on polling day.
You can also request a replacement postal vote if your postal vote has been lost or spoilt, also by 5pm on polling day.
Further details are available from Ribble Valley Borough Council’s elections team on 01200 414411.