Welwyn Hatfield residents urged to register to have their say on 4 May

Residents must be on the electoral register to be able to vote. With the registration deadline approaching, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is urging those who are not registered at their current address to make sure they are registered before it is too late.

If you are not already registered, the deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 17 April. It takes just five minutes to apply online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Voters have a range of options – they can vote in person, by post or by appointing someone they trust to vote in their place, known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 18 April. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is a week later, 5pm on 25 April.

This May, for the first time, voters will need to show photo ID to vote at a polling station. This is a new requirement, introduced by the UK Government’s Elections Act. To find out which ID you can use in the polling station, visit the Electoral Commission website. Without photo ID voters will not be able to vote at a polling station.

If you do not have one of the accepted types of ID, you can apply for free ID at Apply for photo ID to vote (called a ‘Voter Authority Certificate’) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) or by completing and submitting a paper form to your local authority. You must apply by 5pm on 25 April, to be able to use the Voter Authority Certificate on 4 May.  

To apply for the Voter Authority Certificate, voters will need to provide a photo, full name, date of birth, the address at which they are registered to vote and their National Insurance number.

If voters have a postal vote, they do not need a photo ID.  If you’re in doubt about whether you need to register to vote, or have questions about how to apply for a postal or proxy vote, or free ID, you can contact us at elections@welhat.gov.uk or phone 01707 357300.