WARRINGTON Borough Council is preparing for all-postal voting across the borough next month.

It is the first time residents in Warrington will have had the opportunity to take part in an all-postal ballot and council staff are working around the clock to make sure that polling by post runs without a hitch.

This June's elections are for the borough council, parish councils and European Parliament.

The Government hopes that the all-postal voting will make casting your vote easier and will mean more people will make their voices heard in this year's elections.

Ballot packs will be delivered to registered electors from May 25 and any ballot paper posted before June 10 will be included in the final count on election day.

A spokesman for Royal Mail, the company responsible for delivering and collecting all the ballot papers, said: "We welcome this opportunity and are confident our experience in handling large mailings, such as previous postal voting trials and the Census in 2001, will ensure we can fulfil our part in the electoral process."

But it is not just the way of casting your vote that has changed this year.

For the first time in the borough's history, Warrington will have fewer councillors as the number of wards in the borough goes down from 24 to 22, reducing the number of borough councillors from the current number of 60 to 57.

For more information on the new all-postal ballot, log on to www.warrington.gov.uk, e-mail elections@warrington.gov.uk or call the council's electoral services team on 0808 143 0020.

Watch this space for a special feature in the Warrington Guardian showing the new voting process.