Elections
Harlow Council organise and run Parliamentary, European, County
and District Elections for the area as well as any referendums
that are called. It also maintains the Electoral
Register which contains all the names of those registered
to vote in Harlow.
Information about the different elections can be found
as menu items on the left of this page
Voting
Why
Vote?
How to
Vote
Voting
To be able to vote you need to be on the electoral
register. You are not automatically registered even if you
pay council tax.
You can register to vote if you are:
• over 16 years old (you cannot vote until you reach
18 years of age)
• a British or qualifying Commonwealth citizen or
• an Irish or European Union (EU) citizen.
(Irish or other EU citizens cannot vote in UK Parliamentary
Elections)
You can find the list of qualifying Commonwealth and
EU countries via the link
in the Related documents column at the top of this page.
Please see our Electoral
Registration pages to find out how to register.
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Why Vote?
The Electoral Commission explains why people should register to
vote:
- It gives you a say on important issues that affect you
– everything from roads and recycling to education and
climate change.
- It gives you a say on who represents you locally and
nationally
- Elections can be called at short notice and if you're not
registered you can't vote.
- People have fought for the right to vote and be part of a
democracy. The right for women to vote on equal terms with
men in the UK was still being argued less than 100 years ago.
Follow this link to read more about why you should
register to vote as well common myths about voting &
registering:
http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/why_should_i_register_to_vot1/reasons_why_you_should_regis.aspx
Remember, registering to vote doesn’t mean you have to, it just
means you can if you want to.
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How to Vote
There are three different ways you can vote in the UK
On the day of the election you should go to the polling station
that you have been assigned to, this will usually be a school or
church hall near to where you live. Please see the relevant
election page on the left hand menu for details on the particular
polling stations for that election.
Polling hours are 7am
to 10pm for all elections.
The polling station staff will ask for your name and
address and will check that you are on the
Electoral Register. They will mark your name off to
show that you have voted and will then hand you a ballot
paper. The ballot paper will list all the candidates standing
for election and will be pre-printed with an official mark.
You should then go to one of the secret polling booths and put a
X in the box next to the name of the candidate(s)
you wish to vote for. You must read your ballot paper
carefully as it will tell you how many candidates you must vote
for. Do not write anything else on the ballot paper,
otherwise your vote might not count. Once you have voted you must
fold the ballot paper to hide your vote and put it in the
locked ballot box. You don't have to tell anyone who you voted
for. If you need any help throughout this process please ask
the Presiding Officer at the polling station as they are there to
provide any assistance necessary.
If you are unable to get to the polling station on polling day
then you can apply to have your vote send to you in the post.
You can request to have your postal vote permanently, for a set
period or just for one particular election and you can have it sent
to an alternative address if there is a good reason. Postal
ballot papers are normally sent out approximately a week prior to
an election and they must be received by the Returning Officer by
10pm on the day of poll.
This is where you would appoint someone to vote on your behalf
if you are unable to vote in person or by post.
If you are registered to vote by any of the three ways above you
will receive a poll card a few weeks before the election. This
will give you information on how, where and when to
vote. This card is for information only so don't worry if you
lose it or forget it - as long as you are on the Electoral Register
you can still vote.
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Useful Links:
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