By-election postal voters reassured: There's still time to complete your ballot

Postal voters can still get their ballots counted despite a postal strike says council chiefs in Trafford.

Election officials at Trafford Council, who are running the Parliamentary by-election for Stretford and Urmston, have been working hard to make sure every vote person eligible to vote can do so.

Despite the postal strike, the cold weather and the short notice by-election taking place in the run-up to Christmas, officials are confident they have done all they can to make sure people can vote.

That includes setting up drop-off points for postal votes throughout the constituency for people to leave their ballot papers. Council officers are also working with the Royal Mail so that votes sent through the post will still be collected wherever possible.

People can also hand in their postal votes at polling stations on the day of the by-election which takes places this Thursday, December 15.

Sara Todd, Acting Returning Officer, said: “Voting in an election is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.

“If you have got a postal ballot but haven’t sent it, there’s still time to do so. It’s important that people use their vote and be part of the democratic process.”

Voters can drop off their postal votes at the following locations:

• Stretford Library, 10am to 4pm
• Partington Library, 10am to 4pm
• Urmston Library, 10am to 4pm
• Limelight, 10am to 4pm
• Sale Waterside, 10am to 4pm
• Trafford Town Hall, 8am to 6pm

The locations are open until Wednesday 14 December.

Voters can also take their postal vote to their polling station on polling day. Polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm on polling day. For details of where your polling station is, please visit https://wheredoivote.co.uk/.

Royal Mail has also said collections from post boxes at the following locations will take place Thursday morning and be delivered in time for the count. They are at: