Voters urged to get ready for ‘Super Thursday’

Vote - Election 2011

The Electoral Commission, the independent elections and referendum watchdog, is urging voters to get ready before they go to the polls on Thursday 5 May.

With only a few days to go before the local elections and the UK-wide referendum on the voting system used to elect MPs takes place, now is the time when voters will be making up their minds how to cast their votes on polling day.

The Commission’s advice to voters is:

Be prepared - The referendum question being put to voters on Thursday 5 May is: “At present, the UK uses the ’first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?” Voters need to mark an ‘X’ next to ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Plan when to vote - Polling stations are open from 7.00am to 10.00pm on Thursday 5 May. Make sure you arrive in good time – by law, polling station staff cannot give out ballot papers after 10.00pm, even if you are in the polling station. So don’t cut it too fine!

Voting by post - Postal voters need to be received by the Returning Officer by 10.00pm on Thursday 5 May. If you’ve left it too late to post back, you can drop it off at your polling station or call the council to find out where to return it.

On the day - Details of where your polling station is can be found on your poll card. You don’t need this to vote, but it may help speed up the process if you have it with you. If you don’t, don’t let that put you off voting. At the polling station, the staff are there to help you with any practical issues, but of course will not be able to help you decide how to cast your vote or explain the two voting systems that are the subject of the referendum.