4th July - General Election Information
11th of June, 2024
4 July 2024 - Parliamentary Election
The UK goes to the polls in a General Election on Thursday, 4 July, and Broughton residents are reminded that they will be voting in a different authority, Ribble Valley.
The forthcoming General Election will be fought on new constituency boundaries, which have been redrawn to reflect population changes and distribute the number of voters more equally.
Six candidates have lined up for the Ribble Valley constituency and they are as follows:
- Qasim Ajmi - Independent
- John Carroll - Reform UK
- Maya Ellis - Labour Party
- Nigel Evans (sitting MP until Parliament was dissolved) - Conservative Party
- Caroline Montague - Green Party
- John Potter - Liberal Democrats
If you choose to vote in person, don’t forget you now have to show photo-ID – a comprehensive list of accepted ID can be found here.
If you do not have one of the accepted forms of ID, you can apply for free photo-ID, called a voter authority certificate.
To apply for a voter authority certificate, you will need to provide a photograph, your full name, date of birth, the address at which you are registered to vote and national insurance number or other form of proof of identity, such as a birth certificate, bank statement or utility bill.
The deadline to apply for a voter authority certificate is 5pm on Wednesday, 26 June. You can register online at Apply for photo ID to vote (called a ‘Voter Authority Certificate’) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Don’t forget to vote you must be registered to vote. It only takes five minutes to register online at gov.uk/register-to-vote. Please make sure you are registered to vote before applying for a voter authority certificate. The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday, 18 June, and the deadline for new postal vote applications is 5pm on Wednesday, 19 June.
Who can vote
To vote at these elections, you must:
- be registered to vote
- be 18 or over on the day of the election (‘polling day’)
- be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen
- be resident at an address in the UK or living abroad and registered as an overseas voter
- not be legally excluded from voting
Three ways to vote
The three ways in which you can vote are below but you must be registered under GOV.UK - Individual Electoral Registration.
Vote in Person
If you have chosen to vote in person, before the election you will be sent your poll card which will inform you of the address of your polling station. The polling card will have on your elector number, name and address, the date of the election and the hours the polling stations are open, which is 7am until 10pm.
Please remember, on election day, you will need to show photo ID to the polling station staff. Without Photo ID you will NOT be able to vote.
Vote by Post
Since 31 October 2023 you can apply to vote by post online. Electors must provide their national insurance number and be on the electoral register.
Apply for a postal vote - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Any queries regarding elections should be made through your local authority which is Preston. You can phone the council’s electoral services team on 01772 906908 if you cannot apply online, please email: [email protected] or call 01772 906908 to request an application form.
Vote by proxy
Since 31 October 2023 you can apply to vote by proxy online. Electors must provide their national insurance number and be on the electoral register.
A proxy vote means you can nominate someone to vote on your behalf if you can't get to a polling station. You must be on the electoral register before you can apply to vote by proxy. The person you appoint as proxy must also be on the electoral register.
Apply for a proxy vote - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Before the election you will be sent a polling card advising you of your postal voting arrangement. Your proxy will need to go to your polling station to vote for you (unless they request a postal proxy vote).