How you can vote in the local elections

You can vote:

• in the polling station - voter ID will be required to be shown by all voters
• by post
• by appointing someone you trust to vote on your behalf - known as a proxy vote

We offer a range of support to disabled voters, including voters with a learning disability. Most of our polling stations:

• are wheelchair accessible and we provide ramps where needed
• have a polling booth adapted for wheelchair users 
• have large print versions of ballot papers, along with aids to enable blind voters to mark their ballot papers without help

If you are a disabled voter and you need support to complete a ballot paper on your own, you can take a friend or relative to the polling station to help you.

The presiding officer at the polling station can also help you fill in your ballot paper.

If you don't want to go to the polling station to vote, you can apply to vote by post.

You can find an easy to read guide about registering to vote on the GOV.UK website.

Mencap have created a selection of easy read guides to help you to vote.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 17 April 2023.

If you are not sure whether you are registered already, email electoral.services@n-somerset.gov.uk.

If you want to set up a postal or a proxy vote, do it as early as possible and by the deadline.

Postal votes

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 18 April 2023.

Proxy votes

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April 2023.

Changing or cancelling your postal or proxy vote

The deadline to change or cancel an existing postal or proxy vote is Tuesday 18 April 2023. You can email electoral.services@n-somerset.gov.uk for more information.

Poll cards will be sent out around mid-March. Your poll card tells you your current voting arrangements and, if you’re voting in the polling station, it will include details of where you need to go.

Your poll card may look different to what you are used to as it will include lots of information about voter ID.

Postal votes will be sent out around Monday 17 April. There will be a second issue of postal votes around Monday 24 April to anyone who applied later than the first deadline.

If you spoil your postal vote then please return it to the Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, BS23 1UJ with an accompanying letter requesting that a new one to be sent out to you.

If you lose your postal pack or it does not arrive, you should email electoral.services@n-somerset.gov.uk. We are unable to reissue a lost postal vote until Thursday 27th April.