Things will be a little different if you are voting in person this year due to new safety measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

If you are reading this, it is likely that you have chosen not to vote by post – as the deadline for postal applications past on April 20.

A series of changes to polling stations have been made in order to keep voters safe.

Along with a face mask requirement, voters are also being encouraged to bring their own pens to vote with, in an effort to limit human contact.

READ MORE: Wokingham Candidates explain what is it like to campaign during the pandemic

The polling stations have also been adjusted with plastic screens, and hand sanitiser will be provided as well. Voters are being urged to comply with social distancing.

The biggest elections locally this year will be for 18 councillors on Wokingham Borough Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police.

Neighbours have been informed of the following polling station changes for voters in Wokingham Borough:

Polling district Original polling venue New polling location

SCW in Shinfield South Ward - Shinfield Parish Hall - The Baptist Church Hall, Fairmead Road, Shinfield

RBM in Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe Ward - Hare Hatch Village Hall - Wargrave Pavilion

KCM in Coronation Ward - St John’s Ambulance, HQ, Woodley - St John’s Church, Woodley

HAM in Hurst Ward - Mobile Unit at Warren Public House, Hurst - Hurst Village Hall

WFW and WGW1 in Norreys Ward - Norreys
Evangelical Church - The Cornerstone, Norreys Avenue Wokingham

You can find out your polling station by typing in your postcode here.

If you are voting by post, your postal vote needs to be with the elections team at your council by 10pm on polling day to be counted.

The same applies for parish and town council elections.

The whole reason why there is an election this year is because elections in 2020 were postponed in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

ELECTION 2021: We interviewed all the Police and Crime Commissioners for Thames Valley Police

In Bracknell Forest, there are by-elections for the Great Hollands South ward on Bracknell Town Council and the Little Sandhurst ward on Sandhurst Town Council.

There is also a referendum to approve the Crowthorne Neighbourhood Plan.

How will the election counts be different this year? 

Counts for the Wokingham Borough elections will take place at the Loddon Valley Leisure Centre in Rushey Way, Earley, starting at 9.30am on Saturday, May 8.

The results from each ward will be read out in the main counting hall  by Returning Officer Andrew Moulton. Once the wards are declared, candidates and their agents will then leave the hall, with time spaced so that other candidates can enter safely. This process will continue until all 18 results are declared.

Election counts are typically held by invite, and there are no changes for that this year.

There are by-elections for the Great Hollands South ward of Bracknell Town Council and Little Sandhurst ward of Sandhurst Town Council this year.

And voters in Crowthorne are being asked to approve the village's Neighbourhood Plan in a referendum as well.

There is one polling station designated for each of these special votes.

The results for the town councils and the Crowthorne Neighbourhood will be delivered on Friday, May 7 at the Bracknell Forest Council offices in Time Square.

The times below are very rough estimates of when the announcements will be made and could be a bit earlier or later:

Crowthorne Neighbourhood Plan Referendum: 10 am

Little Sandhurst: 10:30 am

Great Hollands South: 12 pm

Once the results are determined, they will be published on the Bracknell Forest Council website and outside the council offices.