Today is polling day for people living in Norwich and Great Yarmouth. Here's some questions and answers about the elections.
Q. I'm confused. Why is it only Norwich and Great Yarmouth where elections are being held?
A. Councils have a variety of electoral cycles, so not all councillors are elected at the same time. Norwich and Great Yarmouth hold their elections by thirds. That means a third of the councillors are elected every year for three years, with no elections in the fourth year. Other councils have all-out elections every four years. Great Yarmouth recently agreed to switch to all-out elections every four years, from May 2019, after a referendum result saw more than 69pc of the public back the change.
Q. This might be a really silly question, but how do I vote and where?
A. Assuming you registered to vote, then you should have received a polling card. That will have details of which polling station you need to go to. You can't just turn up at any polling station - it must be the one on your card. If you've lost your card, you can check by putting your postcode into this website.It makes life easier if you take your polling card with you to the polling station, but you don't have to. If you give the staff at the desk your name and address, they check it against the electoral register.
Q. Do I have to take my own pencil and do I have to put an X in the box?
A. Pencils will be provided. The advice is that you should mark your favoured candidate with a cross, but you could put a tick. So long as it is clear that you intend to vote for a particular candidate, it will be counted.
Q. What times are the polling stations open?
A. Between 7am and 10pm today. Elections are generally held on the first Thursday in May, but are sometimes moved to coincide with European Parliamentary elections.
Q. So, how many seats are up for grabs?
A. Thirteen of the 39 seats in Norwich and Great Yarmouth are up for election, across 13 wards. In Great Yarmouth, there is also a by-election in the Central and Northgate Ward, following the resignation of Lea Davis.
Q. What is the current political make-up of the councils?
A. Norwich City Council is currently under the control of Labour. They have 26 seats, the Green Party 10 and the Liberal Democrats three.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council is Conservative-controlled. The Conservatives have 21 seats, Labour 11, UKIP five and two Tribune members.
Q. I'm planning to stay up late to see the Norwich and Great Yarmouth results come in. What time is that likely to happen?
A. Go to bed. The counts in Norwich and Great Yarmouth are not taking place until tomorrow, although some parts of the country will be doing evening counts. The counts tomorrow will start at 9am. Results are likely to come in during the afternoon.
Q. Okay. I'll get some sleep. So how can I find the results tomorrow?
Make sure you follow @EDP24 and @eveningnews and our reporters @dhannant87, @dangrimmer24 and @JamesCarr_93 for the results as they come in.
You can also visit www.edp24.co.uk, www.eveningnews24.co.uk and www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.ukSaturday's editions of the EDP and Norwich Evening News will also feature reports, analysis and results.
Q. Who is standing?
A. Here you go:
Norwich
BOWTHORPE: Jean Bishop (G); Oliver Healey (LD); Sue Sands (L); Andrew Wiltshire (C)
CATTON GROVE: Henry Newton (C); Tony Park (G); Mike Stonard (L); Leigh Tooke (LD)
CROME: Judith Ford (G); Tom Sherman (C); Marion Maxwell (L); Samuel Neal (LD)
EATON: Samantha England (C); Ben Hardie (L); Jane Saunders (G); James Wright (LD)
LAKENHAM: Emily Cutler (LD); Eric Masters (C); Peter Offord (G); Rachel Trevor (L)
MANCROFT: Sandra Bogelein (G); Iain Gwynn (C); Jo Smith (L); Sarah Tustin (LD)
MILE CROSS: Richard Edwards (I); John Fisher (C); Adrian Holmes (G); Jacob Huntley (L); Chris Thomas (LD)
NELSON: Reece Durrant (C); David Fairbairn (LD); Emma Hampton (L); Paul Neale (G)
SEWELL: Neil Hardman (LD); Tessa Jackson (C); Cami Ouzerdine (G); Matthew Packer (L)
THORPE HAMLET: Gordon Dean (LD); Lesley Grahame (G); Alex Jackson-Dennis (C); Cavan Stewart (L)
TOWN CLOSE: Nick Caistor (G); Mary Chacksfield (C); Silvia Schmidtova (LD); Ian Stutely (L)
UNIVERSITY: Syed Ahmod (C); Connor Bell (LD); Matthew Fulton-McAlister (L); Claire Stephenson (G)
WENSUM: Erin Fulton-McAlister (L); Thomas Holloway (G); Thomas Sheppard (C); David Thomas (LD)
Key: C – Conservative; G – Green Party; I – Independent; L – Labour; LD – Liberal Democrat
Great Yarmouth
BRADWELL NORTH: Graham Plant (C);
Jo Thurtle (L)
BRADWELL SOUTH AND HOPTON: Carl Annison (C); James Borg (L)
CAISTER NORTH: Graham Carpenter (C); Jack Cutting (U); Sandy Griffiths (L)
CAISTER SOUTH: Tom Andrews (U); Malcolm Bird (C); Andrew Booth (L);
Lynne Connell (T)
CENTRAL AND NORTHGATE: Thomas Allen (C); Paul Buttifant (T);Richard Jeffs (C); Jade Martin (L); Derek Poole (U); Mike Smith-Clare (L): Phillip Trindall (U)
CLAYDON: Michael Monk (T); Racheal Moore (C); Cara Walker (L)
EAST FLEGG: Edd Bush (L); Noel
Galer (C)
GORLESTON: Kay Grey (C); Kate Guyton (L); McCarthy Webb (T)
LOTHINGLAND: David Drewitt (C); Adrian Myers (T); Christina Stewart (L)
MAGDALEN: Angela Buttifant (T); George Rogers (C); Trevor Wainwright (L)
NELSON: Aurelio Goncalves Spinola (C) Matt Swann (T); Tony Wright (L)
SOUTHTOWN AND COBHOLM: Cathy Cordiner-Achenbach (L); Margaret Farrow (C); Graham Knight (U) Hayden Turner (T)
YARMOUTH NORTH: Philip Grimmer (U); John Simmons (L); Katy Stenhouse (C)
KEY: C – Conservative; L – Labour; U – UKIP; T – Tribune
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