ANYONE who will be absent for the 2015 General Election on Thursday 7 May is being urged to make sure they apply for a postal or proxy vote in time to make sure their vote counts.

Postal votes will be distributed in two batches, the first of which will go out on Tuesday 21 April. To ensure you get your postal vote then you will need to have applied by Friday 27 March.

The final deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm on Tuesday 21 April, with the last postal voting packs going out on Monday April 27.

Anyone unable to vote in person on 7 May and who would like someone to vote on their behalf will have to make their application for a proxy vote by 5pm on Tuesday 28 April.

Mark Dickson, Electoral Registration Officer for the Scottish Borders, said: “It is vital that people know the deadlines for making postal and proxy vote applications as these are set in law and we cannot, under any circumstances, deal with late applications.

“It is also important for anyone going on holiday around the time of the General Election to make sure that they get their postal vote pack before they go, so they may need to apply by Friday 27 March to make sure they get it in time.” Application forms for both postal and proxy votes are available from the Council’s website or by contacting the Electoral Registration Officer on 01835 825100.

The deadline for anyone not already registered to vote is Monday 20 April. You can register to vote if you are 18 or over or will be on or before the day of the election and if you are a British or Commonwealth citizen or an EU national.

The electoral registration system in the UK has recently changed. The new system is called Individual Electoral Registration, or IER, and most people who are currently registered to vote will have been registered automatically.

If you have not re-registered under IER and you were a postal or proxy voter before IER was introduced in September 2014 you will need to re-register to receive this again. You should have received a letter from the Electoral Registration Officer to make you aware of this.

Individual electors can register to vote by completing online registration at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or by contacting the Electoral Registration Officer. More information and advice can also be obtained from the Electoral Registration Officer by emailing ero@scotborders.gov.uk or calling 01835 825100.