Local elections 2021: voter information

This year Woking Borough Council, Surrey County Council and Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner elections will be held on Thursday 6 May 2021.

The local elections will give residents the opportunity to vote in three different elections to choose:

Surrey County councillors, who make decisions about public services across Surrey in areas such as social care, schools, roads and transport, public health and fire and rescue services.
Woking Borough councillors, who decide on services at a local level including planning, parks, leisure and community centres, recycling and waste collection, housing and public health.
The Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), who oversees your local police force and ensures they are prioritising what matters to you.

To vote in the local elections, you must be registered to vote.

The elections you can vote in depend on your citizenship, age and where you live.

Check which elections you can vote in

Once registered, you can choose a number of ways to vote. You can:

vote in person at your designated polling station
vote by post
vote via a proxy - a person nominated by you can vote on your behalf.

If you wish to apply for a postal or proxy vote, we urge you to apply well in advance of the application deadline and complete and return your vote as early as possible.

Are you registered to vote?

In order to vote in an election you need to be registered on the electoral register.

Individuals are responsible for registering themselves instead of one person representing a whole household, as was previously the case. You are not automatically registered to vote because you pay Council Tax.

If you have not registered or have moved recently you will need to register prior to the election.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 19 April 2021.

If you registered to vote by the deadline, you should receive your poll card by Monday 3 May 2021.

Key election dates

Registration to vote deadline: midnight, Monday 19 April 2021
Postal vote deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 20 April 2021
Proxy vote deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 27 April 2021
Election day: 7am to 10pm, Thursday 6 May 2021

Voting in person at your polling station

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 6 May 2021.

Details of your polling station can be found on your poll card. Please check where your polling station is located as this may have changed since you last voted.

You do not need to take your poll card with to vote but it saves time at the polling station.

For this election, you do not need to provide photographic identification to confirm your identify.

To find your polling station, check your poll card or use our online search below.

Find you polling station

COVID-19 secure polling stations

Polling stations will be safe places to vote. We are reviewing arrangements for the elections on 6 May 2021 very carefully to ensure that voters are safe and able to cast their vote.

To keep yourself and others safe on polling day, please:

wear a face covering (over your mouth and nose) inside the polling station
sanitise your hands using the hand sanitiser provided
maintain and follow the social distancing instructions at all times
bring your own pen or pencil to mark your ballot paper, if possible.

Voting by post

You can apply for a postal vote at any time until 5pm on Tuesday 20 April 2021.

The deadline for making changes to or cancelling existing postal votes is also 5pm on Tuesday 20 April 2021. We must receive you application by this deadline to be eligible to vote.

Postal votes are sent out in batches with cut off dates for each batch, so the earlier we receive your application form the sooner we can send you your ballot papers.

Completed postal votes need to be returned to the Local Returning Officer by 10pm on 6 May 2021. You can deliver your completed postal vote to the Council Offices or at any polling station in your division.

Apply for a postal vote

Voting via a proxy

You can apply for a proxy vote, where someone votes on your behalf at your polling station until 5pm on Tuesday 27 April 2021.

Your proxy needs to be registered to vote and eligible to vote at the elections on 6 May 2021.

If you appoint a proxy, you are still entitled vote yourself at your polling station provided that your proxy has not already voted on your behalf or arranged a postal vote. Please note that your proxy will need to attend your allocated polling station to vote on your behalf.

Apply for a proxy vote

Emergency proxy votes

If, after 5pm on Tuesday 27 April 2021 you find that you are unable to attend your polling station due to work or medical reasons, you may be able to apply to vote by emergency proxy. This must be something that you weren't aware of before the normal proxy vote deadline.

You will need to provide supporting evidence to support your application.

These applications can be made up to 5pm on polling day, Thursday 7 May 2020.

Find out more about emergency proxy votes

Key election documents

Notice of poll: to be published by Tuesday 27 April 2021

More information

Visit Surrey County Council's elections information

Visit Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner's elections information

Visit the Electoral Commission's website

Contact us

For more information, contact our elections team.

Email: elections@woking.gov.uk

Phone: 01483 743 860