Date set for Moray Council by-election

A by-election is to be held in Moray Council’s Heldon and Laich ward following the resignation last week of Councillor Eric McGillivray.

Polling will take place on Thursday, October 1, with the count and declaration taking place the following day at Lossiemouth Town Hall.

Polling places for the by-election will be the Burghead Free Church Hall, Hopeman Memorial Hall, Lossiemouth Community Centre, Lossiemouth Town Hall, Duffus Village Hall, Alves Primary School and Miltonduff Public Hall.

The by-election will be conducted by the single transferable vote (STV) proportional representation system, in which voters are asked to mark candidates by preference using numbers. Voters will be able vote for as many or as few candidates as they wish.

There are approximately 11,125 voters in the ward, with 1,969 of these opting to vote by post.

A formal election timetable will be available in due course, with the candidate nominations opening on Thursday, August 13.

As required by law, when a vacancy occurs in local government the returning officer has three months to hold an election to fill the vacancy.

Links to the results of the Moray Council elections in 2012

http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_79177.html

In March 2013, there was a by-election in the Heldon and Laich ward. Click on the link below for the result

http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_85571.html

Moray Council area stretches from Tomintoul in the south to the shores of the Moray Firth, from Keith in the east to Forres in the west. The council and its 4,500 employees respond to the needs of 92,500 residents in this beautiful part of Scotland, which nestles between Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.

Headquartered in  Elgin, the administrative capital of Moray.