Advice on where to find your local polling station published.
With the forthcoming now less than a week away voters can find out online where they need to go to make their mark.
Anyone registered and entitled to vote will by now have received poll cards telling them where to vote. But voters can also find their polling stations by entering their postcodes into the following websites.
Birmingham residents should click here the box marked ‘Find your local services and facilities’
For Coventry, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton residents you can use the Democracy Club tool by entering your postcode here
Dudley residents should contact their Electoral Services Office
West Midlands Combined Authority interim chief executive and the Combined Authority Returning Officer Martin Reeves said: “People may be new to an area and may have lost their cards, or are just generally unsure about where to go – this system is there to help. This is a historic event for the West Midlands where we want as many people as possible to exercise their right to vote, and it’s measures like this that will help them to do so.”
All polling stations across the West Midlands are open on polling day from 7am until 10pm. When a voter arrives at a polling station, they will be asked by staff to confirm their name and address. They will then check that person is registered then hand them a ballot paper and, if need be, explain how to fill it in.
A total of six candidates will now seek to become the region’s first ever Mayor on polling day of May 4th. They are:
· James Burn – Green Party
· Pete Durnell – UK Independence Party (UKIP)
· Beverley Anne Nielsen – Liberal Democrats
· Siôn Llewelyn Simon – Labour and Co-operative Party
· Graham John Stevenson – Communist
· Andy Street – The Conservative Party Candidate
The election is being held as a result of the devolution deal between the WMCA and the Government, which will see more than £1.1 billion made available for investment in the region over the next thirty years.
Combined Authority Mayors will:
· have control over new long term budgets from central government
· implement transport investment, strategic planning, improve skills and invest in new homes
· lobby on behalf of their area, on the issues that matter to local people not only in Westminster, but on the world stage
· work with local business leaders to achieve what’s best for local jobs and the economy
· capitalise on local strengths and assets like our universities, scientific research and innovation
For more details about the election and to register to vote go to this website
