Next month, there will be local elections for all 90 council seats in Bradford. To let you know what’s happening, how you can register to vote and have a voice, we have some useful information in this blog post.
Please note that there are no local council elections in North Yorkshire, which includes the Craven area.
When are the Local Elections?
They take place on Thursday 7th May. You can vote in-person at your local Polling Station from 7am to 10pm.
Registering to Vote
You can register to vote online via the GOV.UK website’s Register to Vote page. It says what you need before registering, such as your National Insurance Number.
The deadlines for registering are as follows:
- Monday 20th April at 11:59pm for registering to vote
- Tuesday 21st April at 5pm for voting by post – you need to have registered to vote beforehand
- Tuesday 28th April at 5pm for voting by proxy – you need to have registered to vote beforehand. This involves getting someone you trust to vote for you in-person if you cannot do so on polling day
Once you have registered, you should receive a polling card in the post. If you have already registered, the polling card should have arrived in the post by now.
Voter ID
When you go to vote in-person, you will need to bring some form of photo ID with you. Valid forms of photo ID include:
- A valid UK passport
- A driving licence
- A Blue Badge
- An Older Person’s Bus Pass
- A Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
If you don’t have any of the above, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate. For that, you will need a digital photo of yourself and your National Insurance Number. You need to be registered to vote to apply for this.
The deadline for applying is Tuesday 28th April at 5pm.
Polling Stations
If you are going to vote in person, you will need to find out where your nearest polling station is. The address will be on your polling card, which will be sent in the post.
To find where it is, please visit the Where Do I Vote website and type in your postcode.
Local Candidates
Your polling card will also say which council ward you are in. To find out which candidates and parties are standing in your ward, there will be information on the Bradford Council website.
Due to boundary changes made last year, the name of the ward you live in may have changed. A full list of candidates will be published on Friday 10th April.