Have your say – Vote 3rd May

Today London’s 5.8 million voters can have their say on who they want as Mayor of London and the 25 London Assembly members for the next four years. 

London Elects – the body that runs the elections – is calling on voters to make sure they know how to have their say on 3^rd May. The elections body is also calling on voters to make sure they know where to vote, by using it’s online polling station finder. 

John Bennett, Greater London Returning Officer, said:

“It only takes a few minutes to vote on the three ballot papers for the Mayor of London, Constituency London Assembly Members and London-wide Assembly Members.

“This is your chance to say how you would like your London for the next four years, and who should be in charge of an annual budget of about £14bn budget.  The decisions made by the Mayor and the Assembly affects every single person living in London.”

On 3^rd May around 4,000 polling stations will be open across London from 7am to 10pm. Research commissioned by London Elects, and carried out by Ipsos MORI, shows that some people are already planning when they will go out and vote. In the survey, 32% of Londoners said they will vote in the evening after 6pm and 52% said they will be voting on their own rather than with family members of friends.

But running out of time on polling day was one of the main reasons that people gave for not voting at the last election. Of those that don’t always vote, 21% of those questioned (the most common answer) said that lack of time or being to busy was the most important reason for not voting.

Mr Bennett added:

“Whether you go in the morning, at lunchtime or after work, it is important to make sure you make the time to vote on 3^rd May. It only takes a few minutes to have your say on who runs London for the next four years. So don’t leave it too late and miss out on having your say on 3^rd May.”

All registered voters should now have received an information booklet in the post giving more information about the elections and how to vote.  However London Elects, the body organising the election, is keen to make sure everyone going to the polling station knows what to expect as it differs from many elections.

At the polling station voters will be given three ballot papers.  Voters should mark a first and second preference with a cross when they make their choice for Mayor on the pink ballot paper. When voting for their constituency London Assembly Member, voters mark one cross on the yellow ballot paper for the person they would to represent their local area. Similarly, voters mark one cross on their orange ballot paper for the political party or independent candidate who they want to represent the whole of London.

Polling stations are open from 7am to10pm on 3^rd May and to find your polling station you can use the polling station finder at www.londonelects.org. The London Elects website is also full of information on what the Mayor and Assembly do and more information about how to fill in your three ballot papers.

Anyone that lives in London, is registered to vote, is a British, Commonwealth or EU citizen and will be 18 years old on 3rd May can vote.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact:

• Nabil Hanafi at London Communications Agency on 020 7612 8491 or 07875 266 269 nh@londoncommunications.co.uk    
• Emma Crowe at London Communications Agency on 020 7612 8478 or 07917 728131 ec@londoncommunications.co.uk

1. The London Elections will see nearly 4,000 polling stations set up across London on 3 May; roughly one for every 1,500 voters. The stations will be manned by 11,400 staff between 7am and 10pm. Another 3,500 staff will then be on hand to help with the count.
2. To find your nearest polling station you can visit www.londonelects.org.uk and type in your postcode into the polling station finder
3. The count itself is the most complex in the UK as it deals with three ballot papers – one for the Mayor, one for your constituency Assembly Member and one for the London-wide  Assembly Member – and three different voting systems.
4. London Elects is the independent body responsible – under the direction of the Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO) – for delivering and encouraging participation in the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections.
5. London Elects is part of the Greater London Authority, but is operationally independent. It has a separate budget and reports directly to the GLRO.
6. London Elects has appointed London Communications Agency (PR), to work with its small in-house team to deliver a comprehensive awareness and voter education campaign.
7. More information on turnout, including on a constituency and borough level, can be found here: http://data.london.gov.uk/documents/GLA-mayoral-elections-2008.pdf
8. As of 1 December 2011, there were 5,796,259 registered voters in Greater London. The latest registration figures, including by borough, can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Electoral+Registration
9. For the research referring to when people will vote at this election Ipsos MORI interviewed a sample of 546 adults who will all be aged 18+ on the 3rd of May 2012 in London.
10. Interviews took place between the 30 March and 9 April 2012.
11. Interviews were conducted by telephone using Random Digit Dialing within the London area.
12. Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative quota sample. Quotas were set by age, gender, social grade, working status and borough.
13. The data was then weighted to the known population profile in London.
14. For the research referring to reasons for not voting at previous elections, Ipsos Mori interviewed a sample of 1,001 adults aged 18+.
15. Interviews took place between 14-18 September 2011.
16. Interviews were conducted by telephone using Random Digit Dialing within the London area.
17. Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative quota sample. Quotas were set by age, gender, social grade, working status and borough.
18. The data was then weighted to the known population profile in London.