Voters urged to make sure they're registered

Residents who want to have their say in the May elections are being urged to check they are registered to vote so they don't miss the chance.  

Anyone not registered by midnight on Monday, April 19, will not be able to vote. 

Some district and borough councils are also holding their own council elections on the same day - Thursday, May 6 - as well as an election for the post of Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner. 

The Government has confirmed that local elections will go ahead despite the pandemic and that Covid-19 secure measures will be put in place at polling stations to ensure people going out to vote will be safe.  

As well as going in person to a polling station, there are other ways that people can vote, including by post or by proxy (where a person can nominate someone to vote on their behalf), but they must still be registered to apply to vote using either of these methods.  

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday, April 20 and to apply for a vote by proxy the deadline is Tuesday, April 27.

The Government also recently announced a planned amendment to emergency proxy voting rules which will allow people who are having to self-isolate due to coronavirus to apply for an emergency proxy vote up to 5pm on election day.  

The county council is encouraging all residents not to miss out on the chance to decide who runs the council for the next four years and represent nearly 803,000 local people living in the county. 

DCC says people can wrongly assume they are registered to vote when they are not for a number of reasons. 

These include moving house and assuming they are automatically registered at their new address because they pay council tax. 

However, the two processes are completely separate and registering to pay council tax does not mean people are automatically on the electoral register. 

Those who have turned 18 since the last election in their area may not realise that this is their chance to vote for the first time and may not be registered. 

District and borough councils run the county council elections at a local level on behalf of the county council, and people should visit their local council’s website to find out more about registering to vote and other election information for their area. 

There is also information on the county council’s website at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/vote and www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

Read more from the Glossop Chronicle

Click here for more of the latest news

Click here to read the latest edition of the paper online

Click here to find out where you can pick up a copy of the paper