THE general election takes place on July 4, 2024 and the deadline to register is just days away.

Locally, voters will go to the polls for the St Helens North constituency and the St Helens South and Whiston constituency.

But are you ready to vote?

How to register

People have until midnight on Tuesday, June 18 to register and you can do it online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

All you need is your date of birth and National Insurance Number.

According to St Helens Council, if you’re registered, your polling card should be landing on the doorstep any day now ahead of the general election.

Windle residents will also receive polling cards for a council by-election taking place the same day, which follows a vacancy in the ward.

If you haven’t received yours, you may need to register to vote.

Update your details

You may also need to update your details on the electoral register by registering again, for example if you’ve changed your name or moved address since you last voted, or if you’re a university student who has been registered at your university address.

Postal voting and proxy votes

If you’re going to be away on holiday or have other plans there are ways you can still vote, including postal voting. You can sign up for a postal vote by 5pm on Wednesday  June 19, and your postal vote will be sent to you on 26 June.

This can be done online at www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote.

If you miss the last post day you can still hand in your completed postal vote pack at a polling station on polling day or at St Helens Town Hall, but you will need to complete further documentation at your drop off point. You can hand deliver no more than five postal vote packs plus your own postal vote for each election.

If you're away from June 22 and won't be back for polling day, it’s recommended that you sign up for a proxy vote – where you authorise someone to go to the polling station on your behalf. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm Wednesday, June 26.

Voter ID

Residents who took part in the recent elections will be aware of the new requirement to present photo ID (called voter ID) at a polling station.

You can use an expired ID if the photo still looks like you. This could be a driving license, passport, Blue Badge or Government-funded travel pass. For a full list of accepted forms of voter ID visit www.sthelens.gov.uk/voter-id.

Polling stations

Your polling station may have changed since the last time you voted. You can check where you’ll be voting at https://wheredoivote.co.uk/, while your polling card also contains a handy map of your area and your polling station.

Candidate lists

Last Friday was the closing date for nominations and readers can view the list of candidates for both constituencies here: General election: Full list of candidates confirmed for St Helens constituencies