Voting hub set to return for next year’s elections as Milton Keynes council to consider whether to allow residents to vote before polling day
Milton Keynes City Council is set to discuss whether to bring back a central voting hub during next year’s city and parish council elections.
A full council meeting, scheduled for November 18, is set to decide whether the voting hub, used at this year’s elections as part of a national pilot back in May, will return in 2027.
The Government has agreed, subject to full council approval, that the city will be part of an expanded trial of alternative voting arrangements, which would make it the only place from this year’s pilot to return.
If approved by full council, registered voters would be able to vote the week before the elections at one of two early voting hubs, while the central voting hub would return.
Under the latest proposals, registered voters would be eligible to cast their vote at early voting hubs, open on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before polling day.
One of the hubs is proposed to be located at Milton Keynes University Hospital, while a second is proposed to be based in the city centre.
Voters would be checked electronically when issued with a ballot paper, meaning they could only vote once, whether they vote early, at the city centre hub or at their usual polling station, and could only vote for the ward in which they are registered.
Operations ran smoothly and securely when the process was applied at this year’s city council elections, when 822 people cast their vote at the central voting hub in Midsummer Place.
Centralised voting hubs were also used in May for local council elections in Cambridge, North Hertfordshire and Tunbridge Wells.
In 2027, a third of city council seats are set to be contested in Milton Keynes, alongside several parish and town council elections throughout the city.
Returning Officer for Milton Keynes Sharon Bridglalsingh said: “Milton Keynes has a proud track record of innovation, and our voting hub earlier this year showed how voting can be made easier to fit around modern life.
“We're pleased to be building on that success with proposals that could give residents more opportunities to have their say in the elections that shape their local area."