General Election June 8th 2017 General Election and Voting You may have heard that on June 8th the UK is holding a General Election. General Election – what does this mean?

General Election General Election A general election is an opportunity for people in every part of the UK to choose their MP - the person who will represent their local area (constituency) in the House of Commons for up to five years. There are 650 constituencies across the UK and so 650 MPs sit in parliament. There is normally a choice of several candidates in each constituency, some of which are the local candidates for national political parties. People can only vote for one of the candidates and the candidate that receives most votes becomes their MP.. Usually the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons forms the Government. But 2010, no single party had a majority so a ‘coalition’ was formed between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

When does a General Election happen? What is voting? When does a General Election happen? In 2011 an Act of Parliament was passed to create a five year period between each election. The last General Election took place in May 2015 and the next General Election would have taken place in May 2020. BUT an Early Election can be called if a motion is agreed by two thirds of MPs in the House of Commons. This is what happened on 19 April and the General Election will now take place on 8 June 2017.

What is voting? What is Voting? Voting is your chance to help to choose the people who run your local area, the country, and the European Union. The time when you vote is called an election – in the UK we have: Local Elections, The General Election and European Parliament Elections. All votes are equal – your vote is as important as anyone else’s vote. It does not cost anything to vote.

Who can vote? Almost all men and women over 18 years old can vote – if they have registered. To vote in a UK general election a person must be registered to vote and also 18 or over be a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote Additionally, the following cannot vote in a UK general election: members of the House of Lords (although they can vote at elections to local authorities, devolved legislatures and the European Parliament) EU citizens resident in the UK (although they can vote at elections to local authorities, devolved legislatures and the European Parliament) anyone other than British, Irish and qualifying Commonwealth citizens convicted persons detained in pursuance of their sentences (though remand prisoners, unconvicted prisoners and civil prisoners can vote if they are on the electoral register) anyone found guilty within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election

Why should I vote? Your vote helps to choose the people who run the country, Europe or your local area. These people decide things which affect everyone, such as how schools, hospitals and buses are run. So it is important that everyone has a say in who is elected.

How do I make sure I can vote? It is very easy to vote. You make sure your name is on the Electoral Register for your area. This is a list of everyone who can vote. You can register online. You can contact your local council to make sure you are on this list.

Register to vote The council will send you a card just before an election. This is called a polling card. The card tells you where and when to vote. You can also choose to vote by post or proxy (where you give permission for someone to vote on your behalf such as if you are on holiday) Thursday 7 May 2015

Election Day On election day, you go to the polling station. The polling station is usually a school, local hall or public building near where you live. Polling is another word for voting.

The people at the polling station will give you a list of the people you can vote for. This is called a ballot paper.

Go into a polling booth and put an X by the name of the person or party you want to vote for. The top of the ballot paper will tell you how many votes you can make or you can ask a member of staff at the polling station.

Fold the ballot paper and put it in the ballot box.

What happens next? Article with a guide to ‘First Past the Post’ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/first-past-post-voting-system/ When voting is over, the votes are counted. The winner is the person with the most votes – this voting system is called ‘First Past the Post’. There are other types of voting system.

Published by Association for Citizenship Teaching 2017 www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk