How to vote

Voting by post

If you have a postal vote, care home staff must make sure you have privacy while you are marking your ballot paper. It is important that the you mark your own ballot paper.

The postal ballot paper(s) come with a postal vote statement. You must provide you signature and date of birth on the postal statement. 

Care home staff, friends or relatives can help with this, but you must sign the postal vote statement yourself.

Care home staff can help place the ballot paper(s) (without looking at how they have been marked) into the correct envelope making sure your vote remains secret. 

If you cannot provide a signature or one that always looks the same, you can apply for a postal vote signature waiver by emailing elections@southtyneside.gov.uk or calling 0191 427 7000.

Once completed, post the postal vote packs in a Royal Mail post box to be delivered back to us. 

If you miss the post, the postal votes can be handed in to a person authorised to receive them at South Shields Town Hall or at a polling station on election day. 

You can only hand in a maximum of 6 postal votes (your own and up to five others) but you must fill in a form when handing them in or they will all be rejected. This applies to postal votes handed in at polling stations or South Shields Town Hall.

Voting in person in a polling station

If residents need help with the voting in a polling station, they can take a companion with them to help them or ask the polling station staff for help.

There will be tools available to help voters with disabilities to vote independently, please see Accessible voting for all.

Proxy voting

Residents can ask someone to vote on their behalf. This is called a proxy vote.

Care home staff should avoid acting as proxy for a resident unless there is no other person who could perform this function.

For more information on proxy voting, see Ask someone else to vote on your behalf (proxy vote).

Applying to vote by post or proxy

You can apply to vote by post online at GOV.UK: Apply for a postal vote.

You can also apply to vote by post or by proxy by completing an application form.

• You can download and complete a the Application form to vote by post (please complete by hand - we must have a hand written signature)
• Or, ask us to post an application form to vote by post or by proxy to you by emailing elections@southtyneside.gov.uk or calling 0191 427 7000

Return your application form to the Elections Office by either:

• Post: Elections Office, South Tyneside Council, Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields, NE33 2RL
• Email a scanned copy to: elections@southtyneside.gov.uk