Highland Council urges locals not to waste their vote
Voters in the strath are being reminded to mark their Highland Council election ballot papers with numbers and not a cross.
They are being urged to make sure they fill in their ballot paper correctly on Thursday May 3 and not waste their vote.
They should use numbers against the name of candidates in order of choice, using 1, 2, 3 and so on.
Mr Alistair Dodds, Returning Officer, posed for a photograph today to get the message over.
He is pictured with Andy O’Neill, lead officer in Scotland with the Electoral Commission, who is travelling around the country to help people know how to vote at the elections.
Most people vote in person at their polling station.
There are 271 polling stations in the Highlands. Polling stations are open between 7am and 10pm on May 3.
Mr O'Neill said: "The system to count the votes is the ‘Single Transferable Vote.’
"The ballot paper lists the name of each candidate and to be elected a candidate must reach a set amount of votes known as the quota.
"The votes are counted in stages: in the first stage, only first preferences are counted.
"Anyone who reaches the quota is elected. Any votes received over the quota are not needed by the elected candidate and so are transferred to the second preference.
"If not enough candidates have reached the quota, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and all of their votes are passed to the next preference on the ballot papers.
This process is repeated until three or four candidates have been elected."
A total of 170 candidates are seeking election to the 80 seats on The Highland Council.
There are seven candidates vying for four places in Badenoch and Strathspey.
