Deadline dates approaching for General Election
Date: 17 June 2024
Key deadline dates are approaching for those intending to cast their vote in the UK General Election on 4 July.
Voters who are not yet on the electoral register have until midnight tomorrow (18 June) to register. Applications can be made at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.
Those who want to apply for a postal or postal proxy vote - or change an existing postal or postal proxy have until 5.00pm on Wednesday (19 June). Applications can be made at www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote.
Polling letters have been hitting door mats since the end of last week, with the first issue of postal voting packs expected to be delivered around Friday 21 June.
Voters can also apply for a Proxy vote – where someone votes at the polling station in person on your behalf – the deadline for this is 5pm Wednesday 26 June. You can apply at Apply for a proxy vote - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
A key change this year is that to vote in person at a polling station, voters are now required to show valid photographic ID. The full list of acceptable voter ID is available on the Electoral Commission’s website, at www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID and includes:
- passport
- driving licence
- Saltire card
- Young Scot card
If voters do not have any approved photographic ID, they can apply to their local Electoral Registration Office for a Voter Authority Certificate - but they must do this by 5:00pm on Wednesday 26 June.
Changes have also been made to the voter eligibility criteria for overseas voters. British and eligible Irish citizens living overseas can now register to vote in UK Parliamentary general elections no matter how long ago they left or were last on the UK Electoral Register.
For the purposes of UK Parliamentary Elections, Orkney and Shetland form one constituency returning 1 MP after the vote.
Polling stations will be open across both local authority areas from 7:00am to 10:00pm on July 4 – with the counting of votes then taking place at Kirkwall Grammar School, Kirkwall, Orkney overnight, with a result expected on the morning of July 5.
The full list of candidates standing in the Orkney and Shetland Constituency for the UK General Election was published on 7 June.
Voters will have a choice of six candidates, namely:
ARMITAGE, Alex – Scottish Greens
CARMICHAEL, Alistair – Scottish Liberal Democrats
LESLIE, Robert – Scottish National Party (SNP)
PAINTER, Shane – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
SAVAGE, Conor – Scottish Labour Party
SMITH, Robert – Reform UK
To apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, go to www.voter-authority-certificate.service.gov.uk/ or contact your local Electoral Registration Office for a paper copy.
Registration queries, overseas voters queries, postal and proxy applications, and Voter ID applications should be directed to the Electoral Registration Office in Orkney at 8 Broad Street, Kirkwall. Tel:
- Summary:
Key deadline dates are approaching for those intending to cast their vote in the UK General Election on 4 July.
- Category:Elections
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