Derby City Council is urging all residents to head to the polls on 4 May 2023 to have their say in this year’s whole-Council local elections.
This year’s election is different for several reasons. Unlike in previous elections, every single seat is up for grabs, with the successful candidates remaining in post for the next four years. Until this year, Derby had elected a third of its councillors in three out of four years. That means your ballot paper will have more names on than usual and you will be able to vote for more than one candidate.
Those voting in person will need to bring photo ID with them to the polling station to be able vote, this is after the Government introduced Voter ID in 2022.
This will also be the first election since the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) reviewed wards in Derby and made some changes. This means that some residents will be voting in different wards, and several wards will also have new names. If you are registered to vote in person at your local polling station, you should have received a polling card in the post. Make sure that you check the information on your polling card as the boundary review means that you might be voting in a different ward or polling station to the last election.
With every seat being up for elections, residents in most wards will be able to vote for three councillors, except for Chaddesden North, East and West where there will only be two seats following the boundary review.
All British, Commonwealth and European Union citizens living in the UK that have registered to vote and are over the age of 18 can vote in local elections, choosing who they want to make decisions about the things that the Council is responsible for.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on polling day (Thursday 4 May). Once the polls close at 10pm, all the ballot boxes will be taken to Derby Arena, where the votes will be stored securely before being counted and verified the following day.
Emily Feenan, Returning Officer for Derby City Council said:
When I say that every vote matters, I really do mean it – in a previous local election, a seat was won by just one vote. This year, voters will be electing the people who they want to run the Council for the next four years, making your vote more important than ever before. I’d urge you to mark the date in your diary, make sure you have your ID ready, and get out to vote!
All voters will need to bring ID with them, otherwise they will be unable to vote. You can check the list of eligible ID on our website to see if you have an accepted ID. If you have an accepted form of ID but the date has expired, you’ll still be able to use it if the photo is still a good likeness.
If you don’t have anything which is on the list of eligible ID you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate - this is a temporary form of ID issued by the local authority.. It’s free to apply either on the Government website or by contacting our helpline on 01332 640837 by 5pm on Tuesday 25 April. You should only apply if you don’t already have an accepted form of ID.
If you are registered to vote and applied for a postal vote before 1 April, your postal vote pack will be despatched first class on Tuesday 18 April. If you applied between 1 and 18 April, your pack will be sent out first class Monday 24 April. Make sure you send the completed pack to us before Thursday 4 May. You can also drop off completed postal vote packs at your local polling station on polling day if you don’t get them in the post on time.
You can vote by proxy if you’re not able to get to a polling station or can’t send a postal vote. This allows you to nominate someone else to vote on your behalf. Details of how to do this are available on our website. The deadline to nominate a proxy is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.
For further information about this year’s local elections, visit our website. To find out more about the changes, watch our Q&A with Returning Officer Emily Feenan.