PREPARATIONS are well underway to make sure what could be the biggest vote for a generation runs smoothly.

On June 23, the EU referendum is taking place and with such high interest, some are predicting turnout could be as high as 80 per cent.

As a result, Swindon Borough Council’s election team is working to make sure everything is in place for the vote, which takes place just a few weeks after the recent local elections.

In many respects, preparation is very similar to that count but there are some differences.

“The main thing is there are no candidates this time,” said Sally Sprason, the electoral services manager.

“People are therefore going to have to answer the one question has oppose to picking a candidate.

“From our perspective, we are not dealing with parties either. It is agents from either side.

“We’re looking forward to it. This is the biggest vote we’ve ever done. I’m just hoping for a high turnout as it makes everything worthwhile.”

To make sure everything the vote runs to plan, a team of 600 people will be manning the 103 polling booths and counting the slips in the evening.

Like the local elections, the count will take place at the Oasis and a result will likely come in the early hours of the following morning.

Sally said: “It will be an easier count in the sense that there are only two answers but it will depend on the turnout.

“We will be counting the borough as one but will an electorate of around 146,000, if it is high it might take longer.

“Once we have the results, we will feed them to the electoral commission and once they have been checked and verified, we will read out a result for the borough.”

Earlier this week, polling cards started to be sent out and should be hitting doormats over the coming days.

Anyone who is registered to vote should receive one shortly. Those not not registered to vote have until June 7 to do so. Registering can be done quickly by visiting www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

People who are not sure should wait for several days to see if a polling card arrives. If one does not, then contact the council electoral team 01793 445500.