Wiltshire to hit the polls next week for the Police and Crime Commissioner Election

Wiltshire voters will be hitting the polls next week as the Police and Crime Commissioner election takes place, with people reminded to bring photo ID and be aware of recent changes to postal vote processes.

The Police and Crime Commissioner Election takes place on 2nd May, with the polls open from 7am-10pm. The votes will be counted, and the result declared, on Saturday 4 May.

If people are not able to put their postal vote in the post, they can only hand in postal votes at County Hall reception in Trowbridge by completing a form provided on arrival. People should not post postal votes directly in the post boxes at the council’s three main offices (County Hall, Monkton Park and Bourne Hill) as they will be rejected. Alternatively, on polling day people can hand postal votes in at the polling station. People can only hand in a maximum of five postal votes and their own (six in total).

For those voting in one of Wiltshire’s 352 polling stations, photographic identification is now a mandatory requirement. Accepted forms of photo ID include passports, photographic driving licences, biometric immigration documents, and certain concessionary travel passes. A comprehensive list can be found at www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/voter-id. Alternatively, if people have a Voter Authority Certificate, because they don’t have photo ID, they should bring that along to vote.

The deadline to register to vote or apply for a postal vote for the Police and Crime Commissioner has now passed.

Wiltshire’s Police Area Returning Officer, Terence Herbert, said: “We have more than 1,200 staff working hard at the election to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible for the voters.

“We’d hate for voters to miss out on having their say by not following the correct postal vote process or forgetting their photo ID. So, I urge people to make sure they check all the information they need to know before either posting their vote or setting off for their polling station.”

Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible for overseeing the work of Wiltshire Police. Electors wishing to view the candidates’ statement to the public can do so online at https://choosemypcc.org.uk/area/wiltshire.

If people are not sure where their local polling station is, they can visit https://wheredoivote.co.uk/ and enter their postcode or check their poll card.

More information can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-pcc.