European Parliament, City and Parish Elections
There are elections taking place on Thursday 10 June for the European Parliament, Winchester City Council, and for five Parish Councils.
Nineteen of the districts' 26 wards are scheduled to have City Council elections, while elections for the European Parliament will take place in all wards. There are elections scheduled for five Parish Councils.
Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm.
The Notice of Election was published today (5 May) and candidate nominations must be with the City Council no later than 4.00pm on Thursday 13 May. Publication of the list of candidates is at noon on Monday 17 May.
Those on the electoral register may apply for a postal or proxy application, and these must be received by the City Council no later than 5.00pm on Wednesday 2 June. Polling cards will be sent to all registered electors, excluding postal voters, before polling day.
Counting in the City Council election will not take place on polling day, but from 10.00am at The Guildhall, Winchester, on Friday 11 June.
City Council wards where elections are being held are:
Bishop's Waltham, Boarhunt and Southwick, Colden Common and Twyford, Compton and Otterbourne, Denmead, Kings Worthy, Littleton and Harestock, Olivers Battery and Badger Farm, St Barnabas, St Bartholomew, St John and All Saints, St Luke, St Michael, St Paul, Shedfield, The Alresfords, Whiteley, Wickham, Wonston and Micheldever
More details about the elections will be available on the City Council website nearer the time.
For further information on the election process or ways of voting, please contact the Electoral Services Unit at Winchester City Council on 01962 848125 / 848154 / 848192 or email ereg@winchester.gov.uk
Parish Council Elections
Polling will also take place in the five Parish Council elections scheduled for Boarhunt, Southwick and Widley, Compton and Shawford, Badger Farm, and Shedfield.
European Parliament
Although elections in the UK traditionally take place on a Thursday, in Europe they are often held at weekends. Counting for the European Parliament will not be carried out until Sunday 13 June at 6pm and the results will be declared after the last of the Spanish polls close.
The European elections are organised in regions and Winchester comes under the South East Region of the UK that includes Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire. Results will be announced from South Oxfordshire by Steve Lake, the Regional Returning Officer for the South East European Parliamentary Region, after 9pm on Sunday 13 June.
The European Parliament is made up of elected Members from the member states of the EU for a five-year term. Most of the time, Parliament and the MEPs are based in Brussels where its specialist committees meet to scrutinise proposals for new EU laws. There are currently 11 Members from the South-East, although this will be reduced to ten as from this election.
Following the expansion of the European Union, 25 member states will be eligible to send representatives to the European Parliament.