don’t duck Your Guide to Voting in the General Election 2017 out of democracy
Students and young people need to be on the agenda in the General Election on Thursday 8 June. We’ve seen that politicians can feel able to ignore us when we aren’t registered to vote. But across the UK, students and young people can swing the vote.
That’s why Worcester Students’ Union is supporting NUS’ Generation Vote campaign
What is the General Election and when is it? A General Election is an opportunity for people in every part of the UK to choose their MP - the person who will represent their local area (constituency) in the House of Commons for up to five years. There is normally a choice of several candidates in each constituency, some of which are the local candidates for national political parties. People can only vote for one of the candidates and the candidate that receives most votes becomes their MP. Normally General Elections happen every 5 years. This year’s election was not expected and was called by the Prime Minister Theresa May largely as a result of the UK’s decision in last year’s referendum to leave the European Union.
The Election will take place on Thursday 8th June 2017
Who can vote?
AGE
In England, Northern Ireland and Wales you can register to vote if you are 17 years old (and in some cases if you are 16). However, you can only vote when you become 18. In Scotland you can register to vote if you are 15 years old (and in some cases if you are 14). You can vote in local elections and elections to the Scottish Parliament when you are 16 and elections to the UK and European Parliaments when you are 18.
NATIONALITY You qualify to vote in the General Election if you are: a British citizen a qualifying Commonwealth citizen resident in the UK A qualifying Commonwealth citizen is someone who has leave to enter or remain in the UK, or does not require such leave. The deďŹ nition of a 'Commonwealth' citizen includes citizens of British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories. You can ďŹ nd a list of Commonwealth countries at bit.ly/whocanvotege17
Registering to vote If you want to vote in the General Election then you must do so no later than 22nd May 2017. Registering to vote is a really simple process and best of all it can be done online, so you can basically do it anywhere: in the Hive, at home or even in the Pear Tree. Registering will take about 5 minutes. Make sure you have your National Insurance Number to hand and then simply visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and fill in the required details. If you live in Northern Ireland you will need to submit your registration by post (download form at bit.ly/NIregister) If you are already registered to vote (at your current address) then you do not need to reregister. If you are not sure if you are already registered contact your local electoral registration office. You can find the details for your local registration office at www.yourvotematters.co.uk by entering your postcode in to the purple box on the homepage.
Where should you register to vote? As a student, you may be able to register to vote at both your home and term-time addresses. If your home and uni addresses are in two different local authority areas, you can vote in local elections in both. However, even if you are registered in two areas – at home and at uni – you can only vote in one at a General Election. It is a criminal offence to vote twice in a UK General Election.
How to vote How you vote is up to you. It may depend on what you find easiest or most convenient. Most people vote in person at a polling station. However, if you are not able to go to the polling station in person on Election Day, you can apply to vote by post or by proxy. However you vote, the vote is a “first past the post” system so that means the person in your local area who receives the most votes in total wins even if they didn’t get 50% of the vote. You will need to put one X next the candidate you want to vote for.
In person A few weeks before the election you will receive your polling card in the post. This will have the location of the polling station you need to attend and the times it is open. On Election Day simply go to the polling station (you can take your polling card with you but you don’t have to) where you will be given your ballot papers so you can make your choice in a private voting booth and then place them in the sealed boxes provided.
By post If you are unable to attend on the day you can apply to vote by post. To vote in the UK General Election you need to ensure your application arrives at your local Electoral Registration Office by 5pm on Tuesday 23 May. You will need to download a form at bit.ly/postalapp After completing the form, you'll need to print it, sign it, and send it back to your local authority. You will then get ballot papers in the post and you will need to send these off by the date stated on the papers.
By proxy If you don’t want to vote by post and can’t attend you can choose someone else that you trust to vote on your behalf. This is called voting by proxy. You will need to download and complete a form to apply to vote by proxy. There are different forms depending on the reason that you need a proxy vote.
After completing the right form, you'll need to print it, sign it, and send it back to your local electoral registration office. The deadline to apply to vote by proxy at the UK general election is 5pm on Wednesday 31 May. However, in certain circumstances, where you have an emergency that means you cannot go to the polling station in person, you can apply for an emergency proxy up to 5pm on the day of the poll. You can find links to all the relevant forms at bit.ly/proxyvoteGE17
Who to vote for While the Students’ Union and the University think it is really important that you vote, who you vote for is your decision to make and yours alone! However, make sure that you read the parties’ manifestos because these will lay out what they are actually promising to do. There are some big issues at stake in these elections from Brexit to the NHS so make sure you choose the party that you think will do the best job.
Here are the links to the websites of the 6 main parties in the UK: • • • • •
The Conservatives: www.conservatives.com The Green Party: www.greenparty.org.uk The Labour Party: www.labour.org.uk The Liberal Democrats: www.libdems.org.uk The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) www.ukip.org
Here are the links to parties fielding candidates in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland only: • • • • • •
Plaid Cymru www2.plaid.cymru (Wales only) The Scottish National Party www.snp.org (Scotland only) Democratic Unionist Party www.mydup.com (Northern Ireland only) Sinn Féin www.sinnfein.ie (Northern Ireland only) Social Democratic and Labour Party www.sdlp.ie (Northern Ireland only) Ulster Unionist Party www.uup.org (Northern Ireland only)