How do I vote?

By post

If you apply for a postal vote before the last date for applications, your ballot paper will be sent to you. Subject to completing the Declaration of Identity which accompanies the ballot paper, you then record your vote on the ballot paper and return it to the Returning Officer by no later than the close of poll.

You can deliver it to a polling station before the close of poll, but it must be a station in the same electoral area. For example, if you are registered in Chippenham Redland and want to deliver a parish postal vote to the station, you must take it to the Chippenham Redland polling station, not Chippenham Avon or any other polling station in the District. If it is a county ballot paper you can take it to any polling station in the same county division, but not to one in a different county division. And for a General election, you can take it to a station in the same Parliamentary constituency. Please note, although most of North Wiltshire District Council’s area is in the North Wiltshire Parliamentary constituency, parts of it come under the Devizes constituency, and parts come under the North Swindon constituency.

Proxy Vote

It is fairly straightforward to appoint a proxy for one election, but a more permanent arrangement needs to be backed up with the appropriate person certifying that it is necessary for you. This is all explained on the form. If a proxy vote is in force for you on polling day, then either you or your appointed proxy (but not both!) can cast your vote at the polling station.

In person at the polling station

All electors are allocated to a polling station. If you have a postal vote, you will NOT be allowed to vote in the station as you will already have had a ballot paper sent to you.

You will be asked for your name and address, which will then be found in the Register of Electors, to confirm that you are eligible to vote. The ballot paper will be stamped to prove it is genuine, and then given to you to mark secretly, before placing it in the ballot box.