Features

Who can vote?

You can vote in these elections if you are:

• 18 or over
• Live in London
• A British, Commonwealth or EU citizen

If you are eligible to vote, you also need to be on the electoral register.

How to register to vote

Only registered voters can vote in the elections – if you are not on the register you will not be allowed to vote simply by turning up at a polling station on May 1st.

To register, you need to fill in a simple form, giving your name, nationality and address. Once you've filled in this form, send it to your local borough's elections office.

It is estimated up to 1 in 5 Londoners, across all 33 boroughs, may not be registered to vote.

To vote in the London elections you must register by midnight 16th April 2008.

Ways to vote

In person

Poll cards will be automatically delivered to all registered voters in the weeks before the election, telling voters where their polling station is.

You do not need to take the poll card with you to be able to vote. Polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm on 1 May 2008.

By post

If you choose to vote by post, your ballot papers will be sent directly to your home, which you must complete and return before 10pm on May 1st 2008.

(Enter your postcode and then click 'How to Vote')

The last day to apply for a postal vote is 16th April 2008.

A proxy vote

Voting by proxy – choosing someone to cast your vote for you – is only allowed if you have a specific reason for doing so, for example you will be out of London on voting day, you are blind, or have a permanent physical incapacity.

Or by downloading the form from the About My Vote website and returning it to your borough council.

(type in your postcode and click on 'how to vote')

The last day to apply for a proxy vote is 23rd April 2008.

How to vote

At the polling station (or if you are voting by post they will be sent to your home) you will be given three ballot papers.

1) The Mayoral ballot paper is pink. You can vote for your first choice candidate and also vote for a second choice candidate.

• You do not need to cast a vote for a second choice candidate, but not making a second choice does not improve the chances of your first choice. Your second choice vote gives you the chance of still having a say if your first choice candidate is eliminated.
• If you cast your first and second choice votes for the same candidate, then the second choice will not be counted
• If you only cast a second choice vote and not a first choice vote, your second choice vote will not count.

2) The Constituency Member ballot paper is yellow. You vote for your preferred candidate to be a Constituency member on the London Assembly.

3) London-wide ballot paper is in orange. You vote for your preferred political party or independent candidate in the London-wide Assembly Member contest.