The postal ballot for a second term of Bognor Regis BID closes at 5pm on Tuesday 14th February. In order to be successful, more than 50% of the votes must be in favour of another five year term AND, of the “YES” votes, they must represent more than 50% of the total rateable value of all votes cast.
If the outcome of the vote is a YES, the BID will deliver the commitments set out in the Business Plan and the annual payments of BID Levy will become mandatory for all eligible businesses – regardless of how they voted individually. However, if the outcome of the ballot is a NO, then all the additional services and activity the BID currently delivers stops on the 31st March 2023 and the commitments set out in the business plan won’t go ahead.
The outcome of the vote will determine how much business needs are prioritised and whether or not over £1m of funding is available to invest in the Bognor Regis BID Area for the next five years. So - whichever way you choose to vote - it’s really important that you make your voice heard through the ballot before the closing date.
Kind Regards,
Heather Allen BR BID Co-Ordinator
What to do if you haven’t received your ballot papers (bright green envelope)
The BID Team isn’t involved in the ballot – it’s being carried out by the independent election service, CIVICA, on behalf of the Ballot Holder, Arun District Council.
If you haven’t received your ballot paper (in the bright green envelope) yet, CIVICA has a process in place for you to request a replacement, which you can also ask to be sent to a different address.
You need to ask CIVICA directly for replacement papers and provide evidence that you are the person entitled to vote in the BID ballot. This information is necessary to prevent fraud and will only be used by CIVICA for the purposes of confirming eligibility to vote.
How to request replacement ballot papers:
CES can provide a replacement request form to aid the process of requesting a replacement and providing all the necessary information. Please email bids@cesvotes.com to request one.
You may apply to CES for a replacement paper by supplying ONE of the following:
a) An email sent from a business account including a company email signature; or
b) A letter in hard copy form along with the appropriate ‘evidence of identity’; or
c) A scan of both the letter and the ‘evidence of identity’ attached to an email
While we can’t help directly with ballot papers, we can help save you time. Using the CIVICA guidance we’ve created a template text that you can copy and paste into either an email or hard copy document to send to CIVICA to request replacement papers here: https://www.brbid.org/term2
We have also created a mail merge that auto-fills the details about your business premises which will save you time. If you would like us to email you that pre-filled request, simply email heather@brbid.org
Where to send your replacement ballot request:
Any email requests should be sent to bids@cesvotes.com
Hard copy requests should be addressed to The Independent Scrutineer, Civica Election Services, The Election Centre, 33 Clarendon Road, London N8 0NW.
Hard copy requests must be signed by the Eligible Voter and evidence of the voter’s identity must be provided in the form of ONE of the following:
a) A signed Letterhead for the appropriate company; or
b) A signed Photocopy of the National Non-Domestic Rating Bill for the hereditament; or
c) A signed Photocopy of an item of personal ID such as a Passport or Driving Licence. Please do not send original copies of ID or bills
Deadlines:
The deadline to get your request for replacement ballot papers to CIVICA is Wednesday 8th February 2023
CIVICA Election Services will issue any replacements that match the requirement detailed above, from the replacement deadline on Wednesday 8th February 2023.
The turnaround time between CIVICA sending your replacement papers by post and the close of the ballot is quite tight, so please make sure you complete them as soon as you receive them and get your vote back to CIVICA in the prepaid envelope provided in time for the ballot on 14th February.
What if the ballot paper is addressed to someone who doesn’t work here any more?
There are a few cases where there’s no named person on the ballot paper envelope, or the person whose name is on the envelope doesn’t work at the business any more. That’s not a problem, and you do NOT need to request a replacement ballot paper.
The independent election service, CIVICA has confirmed that it is up to businesses to decide who is eligible to cast the vote. So long as the person completing the ballot paper self-certifies when they sign the paper, the vote will be counted, even if the person that signs is different from the named, or there was no name on the envelope.
If you are the authorised person to vote for your commercially rated property, simply mark the ballot paper with your vote and fill in the details requested.
A reminder of how to vote:
The green envelope contains your ballot paper. This is the form you complete and return in the envelope provided, stating whether you support a second five year term of the BID starting on 1st April 2023.
If you have more than one business premises that’s liable for BID Levy, you will receive a ballot paper for each business premises. Please complete and sign every ballot paper you receive and send them back in their separate envelopes.
The number of ballots submitted will be counted at 4pm on the 14th February 2023, but you don’t need to wait till then to vote - once you’ve received your ballot paper, you can return your vote by post to CIVICA.
WANT MORE DETAILS? You can read and download the full BID Term 2 Proposal and other documents at: https://www.brbid.org/term2
You can read and download the BR BID’s Business Plan as an e-newsletter at: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/67465795
CONTACT US
You can contact us at any time with any questions about the ballot or the business plan:
Bognor Regis BID: 10 The Arcade, Bognor Regis PO21 1LH
Email Heather Allen, BR BID Co-Ordinator: heather@brbid.org
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