Vote safely at next year’s local elections

The local elections are set to be held in May 2021 – and it’s not too early to think about voting safely.

On Thursday, May 6 2021 the borough’s residents will go to the polls to have their say on who represents them on Blackburn with Darwen Council as well as voting for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire and in Parish Council elections.

Although the elections are months away, we are already putting plans in place to help you safely cast your vote as well as reminding residents to apply for a postal vote if they prefer.

These elections were due to be held in May 2020 but were postponed, along with other local elections in the UK, due to safety issues concerning the ongoing pandemic. Plans have now been put in place to hold the elections next year with extra safety measures.

There are a number of ways you can vote – in person at a polling station, by post, or by proxy vote, where you can appoint someone you trust to vote on your behalf.

While vaccinations for Covid will have been further rolled out by next spring, people may still feel safer voting by post. As there may be more applications than usual for this, it is important that you apply for your postal vote in good time.

You can do this, and register to vote, by visiting: https://www.blackburn.gov.uk/elections-and-voting

Denise Park, Returning officer for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:

The local elections to be held next year are important, as they are your chance to make your voice heard and have a say in who will represent you in your area and your borough.

We are preparing for these local elections now so that people will be able to choose how they want to vote in May 2021 and can do so in the safest way possible. We’ll be putting extra arrangements in place to help you stay safe at your polling station, such as social distancing measures, and sanitisation but you can vote by postal or proxy vote as well.

The choice is yours, and if you are thinking about registering to vote, or applying for a postal vote now, you can do so already. This will make sure it is sorted early and your postal vote can be sent to you more quickly. We want to keep people as safe as we can, and we want as many people as possible to be able to cast their vote and make their voices heard.”

The deadline to apply to vote by post in the elections to be held on 6th May 2021 is 5pm on Tuesday, 20th April 2021.