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With just over a month to go until the voter registration deadline for local elections on Thursday 4 May 2023, anyone wanting to vote must make sure they are election ready.
The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 17 April. Voters can apply online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. It takes just five minutes.
Voters have a range of options – they can vote in person, by post or by appointing someone they trust to vote in their place, known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 18 April. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is a week later, 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.
This May, for the first time, voters will need to show photo ID to vote at a polling station. This is a new requirement, introduced by the UK Government’s Elections Act 2022. To find out which ID you can use in the polling station, visit the Electoral Commission's website.
If you do not have one of the accepted types of ID, you can apply for free ID on the government’s website (GOV.UK) or by completing and submitting a paper form available from Woking Borough Council’s Elections Team. You must apply by 5pm on Tuesday 25 April, to be able to use the Voter Authority Certificate on 4 May.
Julie Fisher, Woking Borough Council’s Electoral Registration Officer, said: “Don’t lose your chance to have your say at elections in May. Local elections are an important opportunity to have your say on who represents you and make decisions about issues that directly affect day-to-day life here in Woking Borough.”
Craig Westwood, Director of Communications at the Electoral Commission, said: “It is important that people check they’re election ready ahead of upcoming deadlines. All voters must be registered, and some may need to apply for a postal or proxy vote or free ID.
“At elections in May, for the first time, voters will need to show photo ID at polling stations. Anyone who does not have one of the accepted forms of photo ID can apply for free ID online or by completing a paper form and submitting it to Woking Borough Council.”
Read more about the new photo ID requirements and how to apply for the various ways to vote