City gears up for Older People’s Council elections

People aged 60 or over in Brighton & Hove are being invited to get involved in the city’s forthcoming Older People’s Council elections, which are being held during June and early July.

The OPC is a non-party political body, which means that local political parties are not allowed to promote or campaign on behalf of individual candidates.

Elections to the OPC are held every four years and are conducted by postal ballot. The elections are run by Brighton & Hove City Council’s electoral services team.

All the more than 24,000 older people in the city who are registered to vote in the OPC elections will receive a postal ballot form if more than one candidate is standing in their electoral zone.

• If you are aged 60 or over and have not voted in any previous OPC elections you will need to register with the electoral services team by 5pm on Wednesday 17 June.

Visit www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/opc-election for a registration form and further information about the OPC elections.

• People wishing to stand as a candidate should contact the electoral services team as soon as possible at electors@brighton-hove.gov.uk or by phoning 01273 291999.

The closing date for election nominations is 4pm on Friday 5 June.

Ballot papers will be sent out on and around Thursday 18 June. The election closes on Thursday 2 July at 5pm and the count is on Friday 3 July starting at 10am in Brighton Town Hall.

There are seats up for grabs in each of the nine OPC electoral zones, which are based on groupings of two or more council wards.

The current chair of the OPC, Mike Bojczuk, said: “We work hard to ensure that all older people in the city are treated with respect and have access to services and support to lead fulfilling lives.

“We lobby the council, the local NHS, other agencies, local MPs and the government.

"Among our successes have been the Age Friendly City initiative and the return of Older People's Day. We have also been lobbying for better toilet facilities, more public seating in the city,  and against cuts to health, housing and transport services for older people.”