Nominations have opened for the Kendal Highgate Ward by-election for Kendal Town Council.
The date of this by-election has been rearranged from Thursday 27 March, following the sad death of candidate, Phil Clayton.
The Notice of Election was published on Thursday 10 April, allowing candidates’ time to complete their nomination papers before the deadline of 4pm on Tuesday 22 April.
All other previous candidates remain validly nominated and will be included on the ballot paper. The by-election will be held on Tuesday 20 May.
If you currently live in the Kendal Highgate 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 the ward since responding to the voter registration form, you will need to re-register you details before the Thursday 1 May deadline to be eligible to vote in this 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 elections3@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
Nomination papers can also be obtained from the offices of the Returning Officer at South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal, LA9 4DQ. Completed nomination papers must be returned to the correct office before 4pm on Tuesday 22 April.
New postal ballots will be issued to all those registered for a postal vote in the Kendal Highgate Ward for this by-election. These postal ballot papers will be salmon pink to distinguish them from the white postal ballot papers issued prior to the postponement of the previous election and which should now be discarded.
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 an eligible 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 Monday 12 May.
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 by-election is midnight on Thursday 1 May.
- The postal vote application deadline is 5pm on Friday 2 May.
- The deadline for new proxy vote applications is 5pm on Monday 12 May.
- The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate is 5pm on Monday 12 May.
- The deadline to apply for an Emergency Proxy Vote is 5pm on Tuesday 20 May.
For more information, visit the Westmorland and Furness Council website at www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/voting-and-elections.
