Highland Council Ward 3 By-election - Voters urged to make sure their vote counts

28th September 2026

Polling will take place on Thursday 1 October 2026 to elect one of five candidates standing in The Highland Council's Wick and East Caithness Ward 3 by-election. Voters are being reminded to make sure they are ready to cast their vote.

The single transferable vote system will be used. Instead of marking a cross, voters should rank the candidates in order of their choice, placing a number 1 in the box next to the name of the candidate who is their first choice, 2 in the box next to their second choice and so on. Voters may rank as many or as few candidates as they wish.

The Council has created a short video that explains the process.

Postal packs have been dispatched to registered electors who submitted their application by the postal vote deadline. Anyone who has requested a postal vote will not be able to vote in person at a polling station. Anyone unable to return their postal pack by post in time, can hand it in at any polling station located within the Ward between 7am and 10pm on Thursday 1 October 2026.

A list of polling station locations can be found on the Council’s website.

For those who are voting in person, polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on Thursday 1 October 2026. You do not need to bring voter ID or the poll letter with you to vote. Voters are encouraged to check their poll letter carefully as this will have details of their designated polling station.

The candidates standing for election to Ward 3 Wick and East Caithness are:

BUCHANAN, Dave – Independent
CALDER, Julie – Scottish Liberal Democrats
GIBSON, Charlotte – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
GLEN, John – Scottish National Party (SNP)
RICHMOND, Iain – Reform UK
To ensure everyone can vote independently and confidently, a variety of accessibility aids are provided at all the polling stations, including a ballot paper overlay. When used alongside the audio recording of the ballot paper, this provides a fully self-service voting experience for blind and partially sighted voters, allowing them to vote in private and without assistance.

Audio recording of ballot paper
The electronic election count will take place in Wick on Friday 2 October starting at 10am. The declaration of the results will be published on the Council’s website at www.highland.gov.uk/news and on social media channels - @highlandcouncil #Ward3ByElection

All information about the by-election is available by visiting the Council’s website highland.gov.uk/byelection

 

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