What elections are happening?

Local elections are taking place across East Suffolk on Thursday 4 May 2023. You'll be able to vote for your District Councillor.

Are you registered to vote?

It's your democratic right to vote in elections. Don't lose it. Registering to vote is easy and takes about five minutes. We'll show you how.

The deadline for registering to vote in these elections is Monday 19 April 2021, so don't miss out!

Vote safely. Vote by post.

Postal voting means you can vote without actually having to go to the polling station.

Anyone can apply for a postal vote. A postal vote is particularly good for students, people who work away, who have holidays planned or just those that might find it hard to get to the polling station on election day.

You will usually get your ballot paper well before the election, giving you more time to cast your vote and post it back.

To ensure that you can vote on 4 May 2023, the Labour Party strongly recommends that you apply for a postal vote.

If you want to apply for a postal vote, or if you want to make changes to your existing postal voting arrangements, the deadline is in these elections is 5pm, Tuesday 20 April 2021.

If your postal voting pack gets lost or you think you haven't received it, you can apply for a replacement from Thursday 29 April until 5pm Thursday 6 May (polling day).

If you leave it too late to return your postal vote, you can hand it in at your local polling station on polling day. If you are shielding or self-isolating because of coronavirus, get someone you trust to do this on your behalf.

Get someone to vote on your behalf with a proxy vote

If you're shielding or self-isolating because of coronavirus, you shouldn't vote at the polling station in person.

If you've missed the deadline for a postal vote you can apply for a proxy vote so a relative or trusted friend can vote on your behalf, either by post or at the polling station.

If you're using a proxy vote, you must make sure that the person voting on your behalf knows which candidate(s) you want to vote for so they can mark the ballot paper correctly.

You can apply for a proxy vote here.

If you want to apply for a proxy postal vote in these elections, or if you want to make changes to your existing proxy voting arrangements, the deadline is 5pm, Tuesday 20 April 2021.

If you want to apply for an ordinary proxy vote (where someone votes for you in person at the polling station), the deadline in these elections is 5pm, Tuesday 27 April 2021.

If your circumstances change close to polling day, you can apply for an emergency proxy vote up to 5pm Thursday 6 May (polling day).