Elections and voting

Did you know that Parliamentary constituencies are set to change?

Constituency boundaries are changing, and it is your final chance to help shape the new map. The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is required by Parliament to undertake an independent and impartial review of all constituencies in England, to rebalance the number of electors in each constituency.

Constituency sizes currently vary widely due to population changes since the last boundary review. The new map proposed by the Commission will make sure each constituency has between 69,724 and 77,062 electors, so that each MP represents roughly the same number of electors. The 2023 Review also requires that the number of constituencies in England increases from 533 to 543.

The Commission has listened to feedback sent by the public, and has changed nearly half of the initial proposals published last year. The new revised proposals are now available to view via an interactive map on the consultation website (opens new window) .

A final public consultation is open until 5 December 2022 and is the last chance to provide your views on the new constituency boundaries. The Boundary Commission for England has invited the public to visit the consultation website (opens new window)  and comment on the proposals via the website, email or letter.

Hard copies of the proposals are available to view at public places of deposit listed on the Boundary Commission for England website.

You can give your feedback on anything from where the proposed electoral boundaries are, to the suggestions for new constituency names. To tell the Commission whether the new proposals for constituencies best represent your local community, visit the consultation website (opens new window)  and have your say before 5 December 2022.

Follow @BCEReviews on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with news on the 2023 Review.

Hemsby Neighbourhood Plan referendum 

A neighbourhood plan referendum for the parish of Hemsby will take place on Thursday 22 June 2023.

Our Hemsby Neighbourhood Plan section gives further information. 

Great Yarmouth Borough Council and parish council elections

These elections took place on Thursday 4 May 2023 and the results can be found on our Elections page. You may also find the Local elections 2023 - key facts document helpful.

Results of local elections held in recent years are available on our Elections (opens new window)  page. This includes the results of the Great Yarmouth Borough Council and parish council elections held on 4 May 2023, as they are published.

The UK Government is changing how you vote, and how we conduct elections, through the Elections Act 2022

From May 2023, you will be required to show photo ID, such as a passport or a photocard driving licence, when you vote at your polling station.

These changes will apply at Great Yarmouth Borough Council and parish council elections being held on Thursday 4 May 2023. 

You will need to show photographic identification if you are one of the following:

• a voter visiting a polling station to vote
• a proxy voter who is visiting a polling station to vote on someone's behalf

Acceptable forms of ID

This includes:

• a passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country
• a photocard driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EEA state
• a biometric immigration document
• an identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
• Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
• a Blue Badge
• a national identity card issued by an EEA state
• an older person's bus pass
• a disabled person's bus pass
• an Oyster 60+ card
• a Freedom Pass
• a Scottish National Entitlement Card (NEC) issued in Scotland
• a 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
• a Disabled Person's Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
• a Senior SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person's SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a War Disablement SmartPass or War Disabled SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a 60+ SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a Half Fare SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• an Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland

Expired documents will be accepted as suitable photo ID, providing the photograph is still a good likeness.

If you do not have one of the accepted forms of photo ID, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate (opens new window) . This is a free service. 

You must be registered to vote in order to apply. If you need to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, make sure you do so in good time ahead of it being required at the polling station. The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate for local elections taking place on 4 May 2023 is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April 2023. 

You need to be registered to vote before you can vote in UK elections and referendums.

To register to vote, you must be aged 16 or over. 

You must also be one of the following:

• a British citizen
• an Irish or EU citizen living in the UK
• a Commonwealth citizen who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission

You can vote when you're:

• 18 years old in England and Northern Ireland

Registering to vote is easiest online via the Register to vote page on the GOV.UK website (opens new window) . 

Alternatively, a paper form can be requested by contacting the Elections team:

• telephone 01493 846327
• email elections@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

If you have recently moved to a new address within the borough, please contact the Elections team to check whether you are registered. If you added or amended details on the recent Household Enquiry Form, sent to every household, it is likely that more information is required from you. Please therefore check as soon as possible.

Voters have a range of options for casting their ballot:

• in person
• by post
• by appointing someone they trust to vote in their place, known as a proxy vote

You can vote at the polling station within your ward, this station will be identified on your poll card. Polling stations are open 7am to 10pm.

From May 2023, you will be required to show an official form of photographic identification (ID) when you vote in person at a polling station.

Acceptable forms of ID include:

• a passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country
• a driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EEA state
• a biometric immigration document
• an identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
• Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
• a Blue Badge
• a national identity card issued by an EEA state
• an Older Person's Bus Pass
• a Disabled Person's Bus Pass
• an Oyster 60+ Card
• a Freedom Pass
• a Scottish National Entitlement Card issued in Scotland
• a 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
• a Disabled Person's Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
• a Senior SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person's SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a War Disablement SmartPass or War Disabled SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a 60+ SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• a Half Fare SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• an Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland

If you do not have any of the accepted forms of ID you can apply online for a free Voter Authority Certificate (opens new window) - this is a photographic identity document specifically for the purpose of voting.

If you are unable to go to the polling station in person on election day, you can apply to vote by post or proxy (where someone votes on your behalf). More information and application forms (opens new window)  can be found on the Electoral Commission website. Completed application forms need to be returned to Electoral Services, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Town Hall, Great Yarmouth NR30 2QF or via email to elections@great-yarmouth.gov.uk as soon as possible.

39 borough councillors represent 17 electoral wards and nine county councillors represent nine county divisions. The elected councillors serve for four years.

The parliamentary constituency covers the same area as the Borough boundary and one Member of Parliament represents the Great Yarmouth constituency.

There are two registers.

Using information received from the public, registration officers keep two registers:

• the electoral register
• the open register (also known as the edited register)

The electoral register

The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. The register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote. It is also used for other limited purposes specified in law, such as:

• detecting crime (eg fraud)
• calling people for jury service
• checking credit applications

The open register

The open register is an extract of the electoral register, but is not used for elections. It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details.

Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register does not affect your right to vote.

Every year we are required to carry out an annual check of the electoral register to ensure the information we hold is correct. Correspondence will be sent to each household in the borough during September and October and will list everyone currently registered to vote at the property.

Please follow the information given on the letter.

If any of the details have changed and need updating, or someone needs to be added or removed, please inform us via the:

• HEF response website (opens new window)

You will need both parts of the security code, which can be found on the form, to complete this process.

Please remember if anyone new is added to the form this is not the end of the process. They will still be required to register individually and can do so by registering online (opens new window) , or we can send a form.

We are required by law to publish how many signatures of registered voters are required on a petition on whether we should change to a different form of governance, for example having a mayor.

Electors can petition the Council to hold a referendum. The petition must be signed by at least 5% of the registered electors for the district. This is known as the verification number.

The current verification number is 3,660. It covers any petitions held up to 31 March 2024.

The Local Authorities (Referendums)(Petitions)(England) Regulations 2011

In accordance with Regulation 4(1) of the above regulations, the number that is equal to 5% of the number of local government electors shown in the revised register of electors having effect on the 15 February 2023 is 3,660.

This figure will have effect for the purposes of determining the validity of petitions presented from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

The number equal to 5% of the local government electors for 2024 will be published within 14 days of 15 February 2024. If this number is less than 3,660, the number to be used for verification purposes in relation to any petition submitted for the period beginning on the date of publication of the lower number until 31 March 2024, shall also be that lower number.

Sheila Oxtoby
Electoral Registration Officer
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Town Hall
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
NR30 2QF

27 March 2023

Electoral Services Privacy Notice

The Electoral Registration Officer at Great Yarmouth Borough Council (the Council), is the data controller for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulations (EU) 2016 (GDPR). 

Why we are collecting your data

We will use your personal information for the purposes of registering your right to vote. The processing of this information is necessary for the Council under its legal obligations as defined under Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR. We are required by law to provide an electoral service. The processing of your information is necessary for compliance with the legal obligations contained within electoral legislation.

What kind of personal data do we process?

We keep records about potential and actual electors, voters, citizens, candidates and their agents and staff employed at an election.

These records may include:

• Your name, address, nationality and date of birth
• Signature
• National Insurance number
• Scanned application forms, documentary evidence, dates of any letters of correspondence
• Notes about relevant circumstances that you have told us
• Your previous or any redirected address
• Whether you have chosen to opt out of the open version of the register

How we use your data

We use your information in a variety of ways:

• To process applications for registration
• To process applications for postal or proxy votes
• To check eligibility to stand as candidates in elections
• To check eligibility to nominate candidates for elections
• For purposes of employing staff (for both electoral registration and election purposes) 

How we store your data

Your information will be kept strictly confidential. Information may be held as a written record, kept on a computer as an electronic record, or as a printed record from our computer system. 

Your personal information will be kept for as long detailed on the Council's Retention schedule. We will only use your data within the terms of data protection laws, will delete your data securely and only keep it for as long as necessary. We will review dates for keeping personal data in the future and if necessary update these privacy notices.

Who we will share your information with

We may share personal information about you.

We are required by law to provide copies of the full Electoral Register to certain organisations and individuals (PDF) [159KB] (opens new window) . They may use it for their own reasons which are different to ours but they still have to look after the data contained in the register in the same way that we do.

To verify your identity, the data you provide will be processed by the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service managed by the Cabinet Office. As part of this process your data will be shared with the Department of Work and Pensions and the Cabinet Office suppliers that are data processors for the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service. You can find out more information about this here (opens new window) .

We may also check with other departments within the Council in order to verify your eligibility to vote.

Information may also be shared with the Government Digital Service.

The providers of our electoral registration and election management system may also process your information, but only on our instructions. They will not use it for any other reasons and are subject to the same privacy requirements as the Council.

Our printing contractor will also use your information but only on our instructions and only for electoral registration and election purposes.

If you are included in the Open Register, by law your register information can be shared with anyone who requests it. They may use it for their own reasons that are different to ours but they must look after your data in the same way that we do.

In accordance with law, the full Electoral Register has to be made available for public inspection and we do this by making it available to inspect at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Greyfriars House, Greyfriars Way, Great Yarmouth NR30 2QE. Inspection is done under supervision. People who inspect the register can make handwritten notes but cannot take copies or photographs of the register.

The full register and open register do not contain your telephone number and/or email address.

Your rights

You have a number or rights available to you, including the right to see copies of all the data held about you, to ask for it to be corrected or deleted, to request the Council to restrict what it does with your data in certain circumstances, to object to what the Council may do with your data, and to data portability. 

Please note that these rights are not absolute and there are circumstances where they do not apply or the Council may override these rights, however, if this is the case you will be informed of this.

Further information

If you want more information you may visit our Data Protection section on the website, contact the Council's Data Protection Officer at gdpr@great-yarmouth.gov.uk or telephone the Council on 01493 846855 and ask to speak to the Data Protection Officer. 

If you are unhappy with the way your personal information is being handled you can contact the independent Information Commissioner at https://ico.org.uk (opens new window) .

Business Improvement District (BID)

A Business Improvement District or BID is an arrangement whereby businesses collaborate to decide what services and improvements (in addition to those already provided by the business rates) they wish to make in their location, how they are going to manage and deliver those improvements and what they are prepared to pay to make them happen.

The Greater Yarmouth Town Centre BID Ballot

This is to give notice that a ballot is to be held on renewing the Business Improvement District (BID) arrangements in respect of the Great Yarmouth Town Centre.

The ballot will be conducted entirely by post by the Ballot Holder, Electoral Services, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Great Yarmouth NR30 2QF. Ballot papers will be sent to those eligible to vote on Wednesday 17 February 2021 for return by no later than 5pm on Thursday 18 March 2021 (the day of the ballot).

The count took place on Friday 19 March and the results (PDF) [17KB] (opens new window) declared. 

The BID proposer

The BID proposer is:

• Greater Yarmouth Town Centre Partnership
  Unit 5 Wilkinsons Yard
  Market Gates
  Great Yarmouth

If you require further information on the voting process please contact:

• The Electoral Services Team
  Great Yarmouth Borough Council
  Great Yarmouth NR30 2QF
  t: 01493 846327
  e: elections@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

Review of Polling Districts and Places 2019

Every council is required to undertake and complete a review of all polling districts and polling places within its administrative boundary at least once every five years. The last review was completed in January 2015. The  2019 review (PDF) [95KB] (opens new window)  begins 25 July 2019 and ends 13 September 2019.

The aim of the review is to ensure that:

• electors in the constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances
• as far as is reasonable and practicable, the polling places the council is responsible for are accessible to all electors and, when considering the designation of a polling place, must have regard to the accessibility needs of disabled persons

The review will not consider ward boundaries, divisions or parliamentary constituencies.

The consultation period has now closed and all comments (PDF) [85KB] (opens new window) received are required to be published.

These comments have now been considered and draft recommendations (PDF) [78KB] (opens new window)  are published prior to the final report. This report (PDF) [17KB] (opens new window)  has been to Policy and Resources Committee on 15 October 2019 and members resolved that approval be given to the final recommendations as detailed within the Licensing and Elections Manager's report.

These changes will be implemented with the publication of the revised register and take effect in all elections held after February 2020.

Formal notice for publication of the revised register is as follows:

Publication of Revised Register of Electors

Notice is hereby given, in accordance with the Representation of the People Act 1983, that a revised version of the Register of Electors for the Great Yarmouth Borough Council area will be published on 3 February 2020.

The revised register will incorporate the changes to polling districts recommended in the review of polling districts, polling places and polling stations which was approved by Great Yarmouth Borough Council on 14 October 2019. The revised polling districts will become effective at the Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for Thursday 7 May 2020.

Electors registered in the area need take no action as a result of this notice, but prospective candidates and their agents and political parties should take note that the electoral numbers of registered electors will change as a consequence of this publication.

Electoral Registration Officer
Great Yarmouth Borough Council