Nominations have opened for the Kendal Highgate, Kendal Nether and Penrith East Town Council by-elections
The Notices of Election were published on Thursday 20 February, allowing candidates’ time to complete their nomination papers before the deadline of 4pm on Friday 28 February. Assuming there is more than one candidate in the wards, by-elections for all three will be held on Thursday 27 March.
If you currently live in either ward and are registered to vote then you do not need to register your details again.
If you have moved into, or changed address within either ward since responding to the voter registration form, you will need to re-register you details before the Tuesday 11 March deadline to be eligible to vote in the by-election.
The easiest way to register to vote is online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote, or Westmorland and Furness Council can send you information explaining how to do this in the post. Anyone interested in standing, can contact the election teams by email at elections2@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk for the Penrith East election or elections3@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk for the Kendal elections.
Nomination papers can also be obtained from the offices of the Returning Officer at South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal, LA9 4DQ for the Kendal Highgate and Kendal Nether wards and from Voreda House, Portland Place, Penrith, CA11 7BF for the Penrith East ward. Completed nomination papers must be returned to the correct office before 4pm on Friday 28 February.
The rules for postal voting have now changed and postal voters are encouraged to use the Royal Mail envelope provided with the postal vote pack, wherever possible. Anyone returning a postal vote by hand to the Returning Officer must complete a postal vote return form. A postal vote returned by hand that is not accompanied by a postal vote return form will be rejected.
There are also new limits on the number of postal votes that can be handed in by one person. Electors who wish to hand their postal vote in at the polling stations or designated council offices must complete a postal vote return form for the postal vote to be accepted. Postal votes should not be put through the council letter boxes, or via internal council mail boxes as these will have to be rejected.
Anyone voting in person will have to show a form of photo ID. Anyone without an eligible form of ID can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate (VAC). Applications for a VAC or an Anonymous Elector’s Document valid for these elections must reach the relevant Electoral Registration Officer by 5pm on Wednesday 19 March.
Applications for a Voter Authority Certificate can be made online www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate.
The deadline to register to vote in the Kendal Highgate, Kendal Nether and Penrith East Town Council by-elections is midnight on Tuesday 11 March.
The postal vote application deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 12 March.
The deadline for proxy vote applications is 5pm on Wednesday 19 March.
The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate is 5pm on Wednesday 19 March.
For more information, visit the Westmorland and Furness Council website at www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/voting-and-elections