Have your say in local elections

WHO will get your vote when Saddleworth and Oldham go to the polls on Thursday, May 6?

In the local elections, voters will cast their choice of who they want to elect to represent them on Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council.

One seat is being contested in each of the 20 wards in Oldham, including three wards in Saddleworth: Saddleworth North, Saddleworth South, and Saddleworth West and Lees.

Each ward is represented by three borough councillors, with one up for election each year.

Residents who are registered to vote can have their say for the ward in which they live. You will receive a poll card telling you where to vote.

There are also two Saddleworth Parish Council by-elections being held on May 6 to fill vacancies left by Neil Allsopp and Alan Belmore.

They resigned last summer as they moved away from the area and the by-election to fill their positions, both in the Greenfield ward, were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On the same day as these local elections will be the Greater Manchester Mayoral Election, also delayed from May 2020 because of the pandemic.

The election, which is being held for only the second time, will use a supplementary vote system in which voters express a first and a second preference for candidates.

The Mayor serves as the elected leader of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, with power over investment from the government as well as authority over strategic housing planning, transport, adult education and skills, social care and others.

To have your say in any of the elections on May 6, you must be registered to vote. If you’re not already registered, check your eligibility and sign up online: www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. The deadline is midnight on April 19, 2021.

To register for postal vote, download and complete an application form from Oldham Council’s website: www.oldham.gov.uk/elections. The deadline is 5pm on April 20, 2021.

You will receive a voting pack in the post including instructions on how to vote. Make sure you send it back so that it arrives by 10pm on election day.

To register for a proxy vote, so you can appoint someone to cast your vote, download and complete an application form from Oldham Council’s website: www.oldham.gov.uk/elections. The deadline 5pm on April, 27 2021.

Look out in next month’s Independent for a full list of candidates in the local elections and Greater Manchester Mayoral Election, as well as guidelines that will be in place on voting day during the pandemic.