At the beginning of every BID term, we invite any levy-paying business or organisation in the BID area to nominate themselves to serve on the Board until the end of each BID term. The current BID term ends September 2024. Due to COVID-19 there has been a delay in the process as we have wanted to ensure we get the maximum turnout and give businesses the opportunity to have their say. The election was held online by an independent elections company called Choice Voting.
The Process
The election ran from Monday 15 March at 9am – Thursday 1 April 2021 at 5pm
Voting packs were posted out by Canterbury City Council, on our behalf, to the business address of each eligible business on Tuesday 9 March 2021. An eligible business is any business who is liable for the BID levy. The voting pack included the voting website address and login information which was unique to each business.
If a business did not received their pack or were unable to attend their business premises to collect it, then they were asked to email us providing the following information in order for us to verify who they were, and that they were eligible to vote on behalf of their business:
- Confirmation from the head of your business, on company headed paper, that you have the designated authority to cast the vote;
- Current bill (BID levy bill, business rates bill or utility bill).
The Candidates
In order for voters to assess who they would like to vote for, each candidate provided a statement on why they would like to serve on the BID Board, why they would be suitable and which sector they would represent. Some candidates were nominated in more than one category and all were nominated under the “general” category.
The Rules
- Voting is restricted to one vote per business
- An eligible business is any business who is liable for the BID levy.
- Login details are unique to your business and can only be used once.
- By casting the vote, you are confirming that you are either the business owner or have delegated authority to cast the vote.
- You must select fourteen candidates that you would like to represent you on the BID board as there are fourteen positions available.
- Once your vote is cast it is locked in so please make sure you have decided on whom you want to vote for ahead of time. You cannot go back and change your vote. Details of which candidates are standing for which positions can be found here.
- Those businesses that have a nominated candidate are eligible to vote.
- The successful candidates will be announced on the BID website on Tuesday 6 April 2021 based on a majority vote which will be conducted by Choice Voting.
- In the unlikely event that a vote is cast using the postal credentials and then someone from the same organisation contacts us via email and can verify that they are eligible/have the delegated authority to vote on behalf of that business, then the vote cast using the postal credentials will be null and void.
- The order in which the candidates appear on the Choice Voting website has been randomised to avoid any bias and will appear differently for each voter.
