Elections

Information about past and future elections for Suffolk County Council, including how you can stand for election.

The next Suffolk County Council election will be held on Thursday 7 May 2026.

The 2026 Suffolk County Council elections will see 70 councillors elected to the new divisions which have been created following a review conducted by the Local Government Boundary Committee for England. These new divisions will replace the existing ones for the 2026 election and therefore you may fall into a new division.

You can find details of both the current divisions and the new divisions on the Suffolk Observatory website.

2026 County Council election timeline

Monday 20 April Deadline to register to vote
Tuesday 21 April at 5pm Deadline to submit your application for a postal vote
Tuesday 28 April at 5pm Deadline to submit your application to vote by proxy
Tuesday 28 April at 5pm Deadline to apply for free voter ID
Thursday 7 May Polling day

Who can vote in the 2026 County Council elections?

You must be registered to vote and meet one of the following criteria:

  • you can register to vote from aged 16 or over, but you must be 18+ to cast a vote.
  • a UK or Irish citizen
  • a qualifying Commonwealth citizen living in the UK
  • a qualifying EU citizen living in the UK

Check if you can register to vote and which elections you can vote in or register to vote by visiting the Electoral Commission's website.

Or register to vote by visiting the GOV.UK website.

Voters in England must bring an accepted form of photo ID with them to the polling station. Examples of accepted forms of photo ID include:

  • A passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or a British Overseas Territory
  • A photocard driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state (this includes a provisional driving licence)
  • A Blue Badge
  • Older Person’s Bus Pass funded by the UK Government
  • Disabled Person’s Bus Pass funded by the UK Government

You can find the full list of accepted forms of photo ID on the Electoral Commission's website.

You can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate if:

  • you don't have an accepted form of photo ID
  • you're not sure whether your photo ID still looks like you
  • you're worried about using an existing form of ID for any other reason

Apply for a voter authority certificate.

How do I vote in the 2026 County Council elections?

Voting at the polling station

  • When you vote in person, you go to the polling station allocated to you based on your address on the electoral register. This might not be the closest one to where to you live, and it might have changed since the last time you voted.
  • Information on your local polling station will be on your poll card and will also become available on the Electoral Commission’s website.

Voting by post

  • If you aren’t able to get to the polling station on polling day you can apply to vote by post where you’ll receive a postal vote ballot ahead of the election.
  • You can apply for a postal vote on GOV.UK.
  • It’s important to know that if you have applied to vote by post in previous elections you might not be automatically registered for postal votes this year. This means you may need to reapply even if you’ve voted by post before.

Voting by proxy

  • If you know that you won’t be able to get to the polling station on polling day, you can ask someone you trust to cast your vote on your behalf.
  • This is known as a proxy vote and the person casting your vote is referred to as your proxy.
  • You can apply to vote by proxy on GOV.UK .

2026 Suffolk County Council election results

We will be updating the Suffolk County Council X account with the results of the 2026 elections on the 7 May as soon the count has been confirmed.