Local Elections
Local council elections, which will include all 8 seats on Newbiggin by the Sea Town Council, are scheduled for May 6th 2021.
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic they may be postponed but at present no decision has been made by the Government.
If elections do go ahead they will be managed by Northumberland County Council Returning Officer Kelly Angus who is promoting postal votes as a safe way of voting. She outlines below what will happen:
‘Electors who have voted by post for the last five years will be asked to refresh the signature they originally provided us. This is a legal requirement, and we will also take the opportunity to check their date of birth entry, to keep our records as accurate as possible.
In February 2021, I will be formally writing to everyone who currently votes in person at a polling station and offering those electors the option to apply for a postal vote. We will provide each person with a part populated form that only requires a signature and their date of birth to complete the application. A pre-paid envelope for returning the form as well as the ability to scan the document back to us will help people return it to us at no cost to themselves.
At the same time as the postal vote write out, we will also be letting each household know who the registered electors in that property are. This will allow anyone who’s name is not included on the list, the opportunity to register in good time for the May polls. We are combining this with a revised communications campaign at the same time to promote postal voting as a safe method of voting but we have robust plans in place to ensure that polling in person will be undertaken within a Covid secure environment.‘
Any changes to these arrangements will be reported as soon as the Town Council is notified.
