Don't lose your voice -- act now to register to vote and get voter ID

Don't lose your voice — act now to register to vote and get voter ID

Don't lose your voice in May's local elections — that's the message from Cheshire East Council.

There are only a handful of days until the voter registration deadline for the 4 May council elections, and anyone who wants to vote must make sure they are 'election ready' — including having voter ID.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 17 April. Voters can apply online at gov.uk/register-to-vote

Voters should have now received their polling cards, informing them where their polling station is located.

Voters can either vote in person, by post or by appointing someone they trust to vote in their place, known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 18 April. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is a week later, 5pm on 25 April.

This May, for the first time, voters will need to show photo ID to vote at a polling station. This is a new requirement, introduced by the UK government’s Elections Act. To find out which ID you can use in the polling station, visit the Electoral Commission website.

If you do not have one of the accepted types of ID, you can apply for free ID at gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate or by completing and submitting a paper form to Cheshire East Council. You must apply by 5pm on 25 April, to be able to use the Voter Authority Certificate on 4 May.