This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
On Tuesday 31 March, John Matthews, Under Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, on behalf of the High Sheriff who is the Returning Officer for the Isle of Wight Constituency at the forthcoming General Election, along with Chris Mathews the Acting Returning Officer, officially received the Writ from the Clerk to the Crown.
This is a crucial part of the electoral process. As parliament is dissolved, writs are hand delivered by Royal Mail managers to every constituency in the UK.
Once the count is complete following the election on May 7, in order to formalise the result the returning officer must write the name of the winning candidate on the Writ and return it to the Clerk to the Crown who is based in the Houses of Parliament.
Vote
The writ was hand delivered to County Hall in Newport and handed to the returning officer at 10:30am on Tuesday 31 March.
Residents who have not yet registered to vote can still do so up until the deadline of 20 April 2015.
The simplest and easiest way for new electors to register is online at: www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and fill out the form, which takes around five minutes.
Residents will need their date of birth and national insurance number when completing this process.
Image: © Isle of Wight Council – (L-R) Chris Mathews, John Matthews, Howard White (Royal Mail), Clive Joynes.
