Elections - Voting

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The City Council runs all Parliamentary, European, District and Parish elections in the district. It also maintains the Register of Electors (the electoral roll).

Registering to Vote

To be entitled to vote, your name must be on the Register of Electors. Refer to the section on the electoral register for further information

How to Vote

If you are on the Register of Electors you will receive a poll card a few weeks before the elections. This will tell you how, where and when to vote. This card is for information only so don't worry if you lose it or forget it - you can still vote without the poll card but it is easier if you have it with you.

You will be assigned to a polling station in your area, for example at a school or village hall. On the day of the election you should go to the polling station during the times it is open - 7am to 10pm for all elections. Here you will be given a ballot paper which is stamped with an official mark. The ballot paper will say how many candidates you can vote for (in some local elections you may have more than one vote). Take the ballot paper to one of the polling booths and put a cross in the box next to the name of the candidate(s) you want to support. 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, show your folded ballot paper to the clerk before you put it in the locked ballot box. You don't have to tell anyone who you voted for.

If you know you will not be able to get to the polling station on election day, you can apply to vote by postal or proxy vote. You can find more information on this in the Elections - Absent Votes section on this website.

Candidates

The list of candidates nominated for an election is normally available approximately one month before the election. The list will normally be published on the front page of the website as soon as it is available.

When are the Elections?

The City Council is made up of 57 Councillors representing 26 wards, with one, two or three Councillors per ward depending on its size. Elections are held in the first three years of a four-year cycle, usually on the first Thursday in May, with one-third of the Council (19 seats) up for election each year. The next election for Winchester City Council members will be on Thursday 6 May 2010.

Hampshire County Council elections take place in the fourth year of this cycle and will next be held in May 2009. The Winchester district is represented by seven County Councillors.

Members of Parliament are elected to the House of Commons at a Parliamentary General Election. The Winchester district is covered by the Winchester Constituency. A General Election has to be held within five years of the last one, but could actually take place at any time.

The Winchester district comes into the South East Region for the European Parliament, and returns ten members. Elections are held every five years and the next European Election will be on Thursday 4 June 2009.

Downloads:

File format	File title	File size / Download time
	Colden Common & Twyford By-Election Declaration of Results	38K 56Kbps Modem: 5 Seconds Broadband: 1 Second
	Voter Registration Form	57K 56Kbps Modem: 8 Seconds Broadband: 1 Second

Related External Links:

Association of Electoral Administrators	www.aea-elections.co.uk
The Boundary Committee	www.lgce.gov.uk
Electoral Reform Society	www.electoral-reform.org.uk
The Electoral Commission	www.electoralcommission.org.uk