The 17th of April is the deadline for registering to vote in the council elections so make sure you have registered by then. You can register online by clicking here and the whole process only takes five minutes.
What if you aren’t sure if you have registered or not?
We know that doing formal things like this can make some people worry and some people think voting can be quite complicated. Luckily, you can find out if you’re registered to vote very easily. By now you should have received your polling card through the post. Got your card? That means you’re registered. Haven’t gotten it yet? You might still be registered, maybe there was just a delay with your card, but it’s best to be sure. To check go to www.yourvotematters.co.uk and type in your postcode, then you’ll see the contact information for your local electoral registration office, who you can contact to check.
But what if you don’t know if you can vote at all?
Of course there’s no point registering to vote if you aren’t able to. You can vote if you are a British or Irish citizen, or a citizen of another European Union country (here is a full list of European Union countries, Commonwealth countries, British Overseas Territories and British Crown Dependencies (PDF) ), a Commonwealth citizen who has leave to remain in the UK or who does not require leave to remain in the UK. The 2017 council elections are the first time that 16 and 17 year olds can vote. The Electoral Commission have also put together a series of YouTube videos tackling the myths around who can vote.
Make sure to keep an eye on our blog as we share more information on the lead up to the council and generation elections this year. Have any questions about voting? Get in touch by emailing alice@otbds.org or by calling 0141 419 0451.
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