The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Our handy guide to voting in the local elections.
Local candidates will be looking for your vote on Thursday
As the country’s attention turns towards next month’s general election, it would be easy to forget there is a crucial vote taking place this Thursday.
Local councillors will be elected across Scotland and begin to make decisions that impact on our day-to-day lives.
Polling stations will open at 7am and close at 10pm. Don’t worry if it’s tight at the end of the day as any voter who arrives at their polling station and is in a queue waiting to vote at 10pm will be able to cast their ballot.
Polling cards should have been delivered telling you where your local polling station is.
If you don’t have that, contact your local council who will be able to help – and you need to attend the correct venue.
Voters do not need to take their poll card with them to the polling station but doing so will speed up the process.
Unlike a Westminster or Holyrood election, council votes use numbers rather than crosses under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.
Electoral Commission guidance says: “Your ballot paper will list all the candidates standing to be councillors in your ward.
“You will be asked to number the candidates in order of your choice using 1, 2, 3 and so on.
“In this election you can make many or as few choices as you wish.”
It adds: “If you make a mistake on your ballot paper, you can ask for a new one.”
Forget any doubt about whether or not you should vote – the fact there are no televised debates around local authorities does not mean they are not significant.
Education; social care; tackling poverty; roads and public transport; the environment; economic development; housing; leisure and library services; cultural services; and waste management are all part of the remit.
So if you care about your schools, the as elderly and vulnerable, the local economy, or how often your bin is collected, you should be making sure your voice is heard this week.
A final word of advice from the Electoral Commission for those who may want to take a selfie by the ballot box: “The law relating to obtaining information in polling stations and disclosing such information is complex.
“Given the risk that someone taking a photo inside a polling station may be in breach of the law, whether intentionally or not, our advice is against taking any photos inside polling stations.”
In this election you can make as many or as few choices as you wish