Bristolians will be heading to the polls today (Thursday, May 5) to have their say on how the city is governed over the next decade.
People living within Bristol can vote to decide whether to scrap the mayoral system or to keep it. A majority of elected members of Bristol City Council backed a motion to hold a legally-binding second referendum to decide how the council should be run from 2024 onwards.
The vote will take place 10 years after the first referendum, which created the post of Mayor of Bristol in 2012. The referendum in May 2022 will offer Bristolians the choice of keeping an elected mayor or going back to the committee system of governance, which was in place prior to 2000.
READ MORE: Bristol goes to the polls to vote on whether to keep mayor
People eligible to vote in the election will now have received poll cards so you may be wondering whether it is necessary to take it with you when you go to vote today.
And in fact, you don't have to have your poll card with you in order to vote, as explained both by the UK Government and the Electoral Commission.
It says on the UK Government website: "When you get to the polling station, give your name and address to the staff inside the polling station when you arrive.
"You’ll be given a ballot paper containing a list of the people, parties or options you can vote for.
"If you live in England, Wales or Scotland you do not need to bring any identification to vote.
"You do not have to take your poll card with you."
The Electoral Commission states on its website that, while it is not necessary to bring your poll card to vote, it can help to speed up the process.
It adds: "Before you go to vote, check where your polling place is. It might not be the closest one to where to you live, and it might have changed since the last time you voted.
"You have to go to your allocated polling place, and you can't go to a different one close to where you work, for example.
"Your polling place will be on poll card, which you'll receive through the post a few weeks before polling day."
Polling places are open from 7am to 10pm on polling day, the Electoral Commission explains, but they can get busy - especially towards the end of the day.
If there's a queue at your polling place, you'll still be able to vote as long as you joined the queue before 10pm.
