Voters go to the polls in West Lothian again this week for the second by-election in three months.
Constituents Whitburn & Blackburn area go to the polls on Thursday, November 14, to elect one councillor to fill a vacancy for the council ward area.
Registered voters will have already received their poll cards, detailing their local polling station.
Seven candidates are competing for the council seat vacated by Labour’s Kirsteen Sullivan who was elected as MP for the Bathgate and Linlithgow constituency in July.
The list contains seasoned campaigners, the chair of the local community council and a former councillor bidding to make a return to the chambers in Livingston’s Civic centre
Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday. Polling cards do not have to be presented and voters are reminded that there is no need for any form of photo identification for this by-election.
Like all wards in West Lothian Whitburn and Blackburn is a multi-member ward. At the last election two Labour and two SNP members were elected.
Unlike the national “first past the post” election voting for council elections is under the Single Transferable Vote system where voters number the candidates in terms of preference, from one to seven.
Voters will be asked to number the candidates in order of choice. They should put a 1 in the box next to the first choice, a 2 in the box next to the second choice and so on. They can make as many or as few choices as they wish.
Only numbers should be used, and any other marks on the ballot paper could mean a vote may not be counted.
Replacement ballot papers are available from polling station staff if a mistake is made. Pencils will also be provided.
Arrangements are available in the polling stations for voters who need help with reading the ballot paper or marking it.
The full list of candidates is:-
Aileen Brown, SNP
Douglas Butler, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Cameron Glasgow, Scottish Greens
Charles Kennedy, Scottish Conservative and Unionist
Thomas Lynch, Independent
David McLennan, Reform
David Russell, Labour
In August Susan Manion won a by-election in the Armadale and Blackridge ward for Labour. That seat was left vacant by the death in May of Councillor Stuart Borrowman.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
