How to vote for Martin Horwood (or even another candidate if you insist...)

The General Election will be held from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 5th May 2005.

On this page:

What you must be (and not be) to vote,

what you need and don’t need on the day,

all about proxy or postal votes,

To vote here you must be:

• A British citizen, a citizen of a Commonwealth country or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland

• registered to vote with Cheltenham Borough Council. A good clue that you are registered is the polling
  card you should have been sent.

The easiest way to check whether or not you are on the register is to call the electoral registration office on 01242 264132 or email them*

You must not be:

• A member of the House of Lords

• A convicted criminal now serving a sentence

• Declared mentally incapable

• Registered to vote somewhere else if you have moved house. You will have to vote where you lived before if you are still registered there, either in person or using a proxy or postal vote (see below)

You don’t need your polling card to vote, but it is helpful to the staff involved.

You don’t need to give your polling card number to the politicians who may be outside the polling station, although the only reason they ask for it is to avoid knocking on your door or telephoning you later to remind you to vote - so it is sensible to give it to them!

Proxy and postal votes

A proxy vote means a vote cast by another qualified voter on your behalf if you cannot vote yourself (for instance because you think you will be elsewhere on election day). You must give a reason for doing this but the procedure is simple.

Even simpler is a postal vote, for which you have to give no reason, but which requires you to vote in advance by post using a ballot paper that will be sent to you. 

For application forms, contact the electoral registration office of the appropriate local authority (your old local council if you have moved house but are still registered to vote there, or Cheltenham Electoral registration on 01242 264132 or email them *