Election - May 2023 | South Staffordshire District Council

On Thursday, May 4th, 2023 residents in South Staffordshire will go to the polls to have their say on who represents them at District and Parishes. We're already making plans to help you stay safe while casting your vote.

From Thursday, May 4th, 2023, voters in England will need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations in some elections. This will apply to:

Local elections
Police and crime commissioner elections
UK parliamentary by-elections
Recall petitions

From October 2023 it will also apply to UK general elections.

Voters at the polling station will need to show just one of the accepted forms of photo ID. If you don't have accepted photo ID, you can apply for a free voter ID document, which is known as a voter authority certificate. The deadline for applications for Voter Authority Certificates will be 5pm, 6 working days ahead of a poll.

Further information about voter ID documents can be found on the Electoral Commission's website.

To apply for a Voter Authority Certificate apply on gov.uk The requirement to have photographic ID only affects people voting in person at a polling station. It doesn't affect postal voters who have their identification verified by their signatures and date of births. If you own an accepted form of photographic ID you do not need to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate (Voter ID). If your photographic ID document has expired it can still be used, if the photograph is still a good likeness of you.

Find out more by visiting the Electoral Commission's website.

Below you will find information relating to the upcoming election, in particular, information for candidate and agents, election expenses and official notices.

Candidate and Agents Information - May 2023

The dates for our Candidate and Agent Briefing session are below.

First Candidate and Agent Briefing – Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 at 5pm in the Council Chamber, Codsall.

This session is a chance for potential candidates and their agents to gather information about

the nomination process and how to complete their nomination form.

Second Candidate and Agent Briefing – Thursday, April 6th at 5pm in the Council Chamber, Codsall.

The second session will outline arrangements for the verification and count.

The Election team will be on hand at both sessions to answer any questions.

To reserve a place please contact us: elections@sstaffs.gov.uk

Candidates and Agents have until the Wednesday, April, 26th, 2023 to appoint any polling or counting agents.

For any matter regarding electoral fraud irregularities please contact the police at elections.spoc@staffordshire.police.uk

All district and parish candidate documents can be found at the bottom of the page.

parish_download.pdf (PDF, 160KB)

district_download.pdf (PDF, 132.17KB)

district_nomination_-_annotated_-_final.pdf (PDF, 900.48KB)

parish_nomination_-_annotated_-_final.pdf (PDF, 534.28KB)

nomination_pack_district_council_election_-_2023.pdf (PDF, 277.8KB)

nomination_pack_parish_council_election_-_2023_white.pdf (PDF, 253.7KB)

Information for Candidates Parish

Information for Candidates District

Information for candidates as presented on 22nd February

information for candidates as presented on 6th April

Form for the appointment of agents to attend the opening of postal votes

Form for the appointment of counting agents and guests

Form for the appointment of Verification agents

Notice of Election

Notice of Election in respect of District and Parish Councillors.

Notice of Election District

Notice of Election Parish

Election Expenses

Below are the relevant documents regarding election expenses.

Expenses calculation district

Expenses calculation parish

Crowdfunding fact sheet

Declaration by election agent as to election expenses

Declaration by candidate as to election expenses

Return of candidate spending for local government elections

Return of candidate election expenditure

Declaration as to expenses required by section 75 of the 1983 Act

Return of expenses required by section 75 of the 1983 act

Electoral Commission including completion of spending returns

For more advice and guidance: English regional teams provide helpful advice and guidance for candidates & agents across England.

Telephone: 0333 1031928 Email: infoengland@electoralcommission.org.uk

What happens if a spending return or declaration isn’t submitted?

Failure to submit a spending return or declaration by the deadline without an authorised excuse is a criminal offence.

The Electoral Commission has a legal remit to secure compliance with the rules on candidates’ spending and donations, but no sanctioning powers in respect of breaches.

Suspected breaches of the rules should be referred to the police.

If a candidate has been elected but the spending return and/or declaration has not been submitted by the deadline they are barred from sitting or voting, and can be subject to a forfeit or fine of £50 per day if they do so.

Notice of Election Agents Names and Offices

election_agents.pdf (PDF, 169.82KB)

Postal Vote Opening

We will be opening postal ballot papers in the Council Chamber on the following dates and times:

Date	Time
Thursday 27 April	10:00am to 16:00
Friday 28 April	09:30am to 16:00
Monday 1 May	Back up day in case of high volumes
Tuesday 2 May	09:30am to 16:00
Wednesday 3 May	09:30am to 16:00
Thursday 4 May	Time to be confirmed. finish at Council Chamber, Council Offices

Sessions may have to be cancelled or shortened depending on the number of Postal Votes that need to be opened. We will be sorting the incoming Postal Ballot papers into wards so we are unable to give specific opening times.

Voter ID Data

Following Electoral Commission guidance, the South Staffordshire District Council Returning Officer plans to release voter ID data for 4 May polls by 12 May 2023

The data will include the total number of electors who went to vote at a polling station but were not issued a ballot paper by the close of poll.

We will also supply the total number of electors who were not initially issued a ballot paper in a polling station, but then came back with accepted ID and were able to vote.

Contextualised information about the total number of electors who were eligible to vote in person on 4 May and the number of ballot papers issued in polling stations will also be provided below:

videf_for_publication.pdf (PDF, 29.74KB)