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For the first time, there are now three parliamentary constituencies in the North Somerset Council area: North Somerset, Weston-super-Mare and part of the new Wells and Mendip Hills constituency.
North Somerset Council remains responsible for administering the North Somerset and Weston-super-Mare constituencies, where a total of 145,822 people are eligible to vote in Thursday’s election.
Following last year’s review of parliamentary constituency boundaries by the Boundary Commission for England, 21,395 residents in the North Somerset area will now vote in the Wells and Mendip Hills constituency which is overseen by Somerset Council.
Registered voters who want to cast their vote in person at a polling station on the day must make sure they have an acceptable form of photo ID.
It is now a legal requirement for electors to present an approved type of photo ID to polling station staff before a ballot paper can be issued.
Valid forms of ID include a UK passport, driving licence, blue badge, older person’s bus pass, a disabled person’s bus pass and more. A full list of accepted IDs can be found on the council’s website. An expired eligible photo ID will be accepted so long as the photographs is still a good likeness of the holder.
Voters can find details of their polling station on their polling card or by checking at https://wheredoivote.co.uk/. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm.
North Somerset Council has issued more than 29,000 postal votes and 800 proxy votes for this election.
Voters who have not yet returned their postal vote via Royal Mail can return their pack to the Town Hall between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Thursday this week or at a polling station on election day, between 7am and 10pm.
However, rules relating to handing them in have changed as Nicholas Brain, North Somerset Council’s Returning Officer, explains:
“If you choose to return your postal vote by hand, you must physically hand it to an officer authorised to receive it and complete a short ‘return of postal voting documents’ form – this is now a legal requirement.
“By law, any postal votes that are just left at a polling station or council office, without a completed form will be rejected. You can now only hand in your own postal vote and the postal vote of up to five other voters.”
There are also important things to remember for people who have been appointed as proxy voters, where they’ve been trusted to vote on someone else’s behalf, as Nicholas adds:
“If you’re acting as a proxy, you must make sure you have your own voter ID with you and cast the vote for the person you’re representing at their local polling station.”
As soon as polls close at 10pm on Thursday, all ballot boxes from the 106 polling stations in the North Somerset and Weston-super-Mare constituencies will be taken to the council’s count venue.
The ballot papers will be verified immediately. This is a legal process where the number of used, unused and spoilt papers is verified.
The count will then get under way once verification is complete. Results are expected to be declared on Friday morning.
Real time overnight updates and the results will be shared on the council's X account using #GE2024.