Thousands across Kent prepare to vote in upcoming elections

KentOnline / KMTV

In about six weeks time, thousands across Kent will be heading to the polling stations to elect a Police Crime Commissioner, with the elections being held on the second of May.

Transcript

00:00 In all this talk of the general election and when it's going to be called, you may have

00:04 forgotten we've got some a bit closer to home in the next couple of months.

00:09 On the 2nd of May, those in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells will be heading to the polls

00:14 to elect new councillors and potentially a new leader of the council.

00:18 Alongside this, across Kent, elections for a potential new police crime commissioner

00:23 will also be held on the same date.

00:26 Both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells usually vote by thirds, in which a third of councillors

00:31 are elected every year over a four year period.

00:35 But this time round, both councils will have all councillors up for election at the same

00:40 time.

00:41 And this is due to boundary changes not only across Kent, but across the country.

00:46 So what was once 55 councillors in Maidstone has dropped to 49 and what was once 48 in

00:52 Tunbridge Wells will now be 39 elected representatives.

00:56 You'll receive a poll card in the post.

00:58 Those poll cards have changed.

01:00 So once upon a time we had A5 cards, they're now A4 letters.

01:07 And on that poll card will be the details of where you can vote.

01:11 And just to say in Tunbridge Wells, some of the ward names have changed and the ward boundaries

01:16 have changed and some of the polling stations have changed as well.

01:20 And all of that information will be included on your poll card.

01:25 So on the day, make sure you vote in the right place, the one that the place that sets out

01:31 on your on your poll card.

01:33 It's been almost a year since we've seen Kent's political map transform, in which Labour took

01:39 overall control of Medway Council for the first time in its history.

01:44 It was one of four Labour councils in overall control across Kent.

01:49 We also saw Folkestone's Green Party taking overall control and a number of joint administrations.

01:55 There are three ways to vote if you're heading to the ballots.

01:58 You can go in person, you can vote by post or by nominating a proxy to vote on your behalf.

02:05 And you must be aged 18 or over to vote, be registered at an address in the area you'll

02:09 be voting, be a British citizen and not be excluded legally from voting.

02:14 You must register to vote by Tuesday the 16th of April. And don't forget it's a little different

02:20 this time round as you'll be needing to bring a form of photo identification with you.

02:25 A full list of candidates can be found on council websites.

02:28 Sophia Akin for KMTV.

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