Important information about voting in the general election on 12 December
The UK general election will be held on Thursday 12 December 2019. In this election you elect a Member of the UK Parliament to represent your constituency.
In the Shropshire Council area three constituencies are up for election: Ludlow; North Shropshire, and Shrewsbury & Atcham. Shropshire Council is responsible for organising and running the elections for these three constituencies, including polling stations, the verification and counting of votes, and the declaration of the results.
The votes for all three constituencies will be verified and counted at Shrewsbury Sports Village.
Who are the candidates?
A list of candidates (also known as ‘persons nominated’) in each constituency – as well as a list of polling stations – can be seen by following the appropriate link.
Who can vote?
To vote at the UK general election you must be registered to vote and:
- 18 years of age or over on polling day.
- a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
- not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote.
For more information, visit the Electoral Commission website.
Are you registered to vote?
Did you know that around seven million people are not correctly registered to vote in the UK? That means they can’t have their say in the general election on 12 December.
If you’re not registered to vote, you’ll need to register to vote by 11.59pm on 26 November if you want to vote at the general election.
If you are already registered to vote, you do not need to re-register to vote.
You can register to vote at gov.uk/register-to-vote. You’ll need your National Insurance number.
Recently moved? Make sure you’re registered at your new address. Go to gov.uk/register-to-vote.
Home from university on 12 December? Make sure you’re registered at your home address. Go to gov.uk/register-to-vote
How do I vote?
In person, at a polling station
Most people cast their vote by going to the polling station in person on polling day. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on 12 December.
To find out more about voting in person, click here.
You’ll find the name of your polling station on the poll card sent to all registered voters before the election, or follow the link for your constituency at the top of this page.
Proxy votes
If you can’t vote in person, one option is to cast your vote by proxy – this means getting someone else to vote for you.
For more information about voting by proxy, including how to apply, click here.
The deadline for applying for a proxy vote is Wednesday 4 December at 5pm.
Postal votes
If you can’t vote in person, one option is to cast your vote by post.
For more information about voting by post, including how to apply, click here.
The deadline for applying for a postal vote is Tuesday 26 November at 5pm.
When will the result be known?
The UK general election uses the ‘first past the post’ system. When votes are counted, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected as MP for your constituency.
The votes cast will be counted after the polling stations close on 12 December, with the winning candidate for each of the three Shropshire constituencies set to be announced on the morning of Friday 13 December.
Want to know more?
For everything you need to know about voting in the UK, go to www.yourvotematters.co.uk.
For more information about the election in Shropshire, click here to visit the Shropshire Council website.
