Elections 2014: The facts

The facts:

European Parliamentary elections are taking place on Thursday 22 May – the last time these were held was five years ago. On the same day local elections are taking place across England and Northern Ireland. Samantha Mills, head of campaigns at the Electoral Commission has more information:

Where are the elections taking place?

European Parliamentary elections are taking place across the whole of the UK. There are local elections taking place across England, including in cities like Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester; and also in Northern Ireland.

There will also be five Mayoral elections too. Four take place in London with elections in Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets. There’s also one in Watford.

What are the European Parliamentary elections?

The European Parliamentary elections will see 751 MEPs elected to represent over 500 million citizens in 28 member states.

The UK will elect 73 MEPs – we’re split into 12 regions and voters will elect between 3 and 10 MEPs to represent them.

MEPs vote on a number of issues that can affect the lives of people across the European Union such as employment rights, consumer rights and medical rights.

What’s the deadline to register?

The deadline to register to vote for these elections is fast-approaching. It’s Tuesday 6 May.

Can I take part?

You can register to vote if you’re:

• 16 or over, although you can’t actually vote until you’re 18.
• A British, Commonwealth or EU citizen.

How do I register?

It’s easy and only takes a couple of minutes to do.

• Visit our website, www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
• Enter your postcode. This will automatically bring up a registration form with the address of your local electoral registration office already inserted.
• Print off the form, fill in your details, sign and send it to the address that’s at the top of the form.
• If you prefer, you can call our helpline on 0800 3 280 280 with any questions about the registration process.

Not sure if you’re registered to vote?

If you’re not sure, it’s always best to check! Our latest study found that nearly half of those (44%) who were not registered to vote believed that they were.

You can contact the Electoral Registration Officer at your local council to check. Details can be found via the postcode search on www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

I pay council tax. Does that mean I’m automatically registered to vote?

No. This is a common misconception. In order take part in elections, you must complete and return an electoral registration form.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go to a polling station to vote. Are there any other ways I could vote?

Yes. You can apply to vote by post. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm, Wednesday 7 May.

You can also choose to appoint a trusted person to vote on your behalf. This is known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm, Wednesday 14 May.

There’s lots more information about these different ways of casting your vote on our website – www.aboutmyvote.co.uk.

The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday 6th May. It’s your vote, don’t lose it!