Deadline to register to vote in local elections this evening
People wanting to vote in next month’s local elections are being reminded to register by the end of the day.
The deadline is fast approaching for voters to be able to cast their ballots on 2 May, when polls are taking place across the country.
Nearly 2,700 council seats in England are up for grabs across 107 local authorities, while 37 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales will also be chosen.
Read More: Minister ‘reasonably confident’ Rwanda bill will pass this week
Votes are also taking place to elect some of the most high-profile regional mayors in the country, including Greater Manchester, London and the West Midlands.
People who have not yet registered to vote, or are not sure if they are eligible, have until 11.59pm on Tuesday to submit an application.
This can be done online on the government’s register to vote website.
You will need to give your name, date of birth, address, and national insurance number in order to register.
Around 44 million people are estimated to be eligible to vote in the elections, but as many as seven million people are either incorrectly registered or missing from the register entirely, according to the Electoral Commission.
Figures suggest there has been a last-minute surge of interest to register for next month’s locals – which could paint a telling picture of how the general election expected later this year will pan out.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Local elections 2023: Voter’s ID ‘wasn’t accepted’
Some 43,037 applications were made on Monday, the highest for a single day so far this year and way above the previous peak of 31,496 on 2 April, government figures show.
An average of 26,968 applications to vote were made per day in the week to 15 April, up from 25,552 the previous week and 20,220 a fortnight ago.
Read More:
Sunak and Tory MPs at risk of election wipeout could keep seats
Young people’s fears over new voter ID rules
Craig Westwood, director of communications at the Electoral Commission, said: “Today is the last day to register to vote ahead of the elections on 2 May.
“Only people who are registered can have their say on issues important to their local area, so don’t delay.
“Registering to vote is quick and easy – all you need is your name, date of birth, address, and national insurance number.
“Those previously on the register who have recently moved home or whose details have changed will need to register to vote again.”
New Voter ID Rules
All voters intending to cast a ballot in the elections on 2 May will not only need to be registered but also show a form of photo identification at the polling station.
Not all types of photo ID will be accepted, but a passport, driving licence or blue badge are valid.
Anyone without the correct identification will need to apply for a voter authority certificate by 5pm on 24 April, which can be done online.
Photo ID rules were brought in as part of the Elections Act 2022, with the government saying they were necessary to combat the risk of in-person voter fraud.
The measure has proved controversial, sparking accusations of gerrymandering and disenfranchisement.
The requirements were first enforced at last year’s local elections in England.
A report by the Electoral Commission suggested at least 14,000 people – 0.25% of voters – did not vote in those elections after being unable to show an accepted form of photo ID at their polling station.
A US federal court has frozen around $57.65 million worth of the stablecoin USDC in a class action case over the controversial Libra memecoin.
Onchain data shared with Cointelegraph by the class group’s lawyer, Max Burwick, shows nearly $57 million worth of USDC (USDC) was frozen on May 28 after a Manhattan court agreed to a temporary freeze.
“Yesterday, a federal court in SDNY [Southern District of New York] entered a Temporary Restraining Order at our request, Burwick Law, supported by Tim Treanor, freezing approximately 57.65 million USDC held at Circle,“ Burwick told Cointelegraph.
He added that the court is scheduled to hold a hearing on June 9 to determine whether the assets will remain frozen as the class-action lawsuit progresses.
Burwick is representing Omar Hurlock and other plaintiffs in a class-action suit against crypto venture firm Kelsier Ventures and its three sibling co-founders, Gideon, Thomas and Hayden Davis, on March 17, alleging they created the Libra (LIBRA) cryptocurrency and misled investors to siphon over $100 million from one-sided liquidity pools.
The suit also named blockchain infrastructure companies, KIP Protocol and its CEO, Julian Peh, along with Meteora and its co-founder, Benjamin Chow, as defendants.
Chow’s lawyer, Kelsier Ventures and KIP Protocol were contacted for comment.
LIBRA reached a $4 billion market cap following an X post from Argentine President Javier Milei on Feb. 14 before crashing 94% hours later.
The saga caused a political scandal for Milei, prompting members of Argentina’s opposition party to call for his impeachment, though little traction was gained beyond those statements.
Data from polling platform Zuban Córdoba in March suggested that the Libra scandal negatively impacted Milei’s image and the national management approval rating.
Two Solana wallets with total USDC balances worth $57.65 million were frozen on May 28 at 3:15 am and 3:18 am UTC.
Data from Solana’s blockchain explorer, Solscan, shows that the address “3Fwr…ZQpK” had $44.59 million worth of the stablecoin frozen, while a little over $13 million was frozen from the wallet address “3nHw…xNgH.”
Both wallets were frozen by the Multisig Freeze Authority, Solscan data shows.
Milei closes Libra investigation in Argentina
On May 19, Milei signed a decree to shut down a task force established to investigate the Libra scandal.
Related: Solana may be a memecoin ‘one-trick pony’ — Standard Chartered
No action was taken against Milei or any other Argentine official allegedly tied to the scandal.
However, some critics say a legitimate investigation wasn’t properly conducted in the first place.
“It was always a fake, they never dared to investigate anything at all, and they’re covering each other up because they’re completely up to their necks in it,” Itai Hagman, an economist and member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina, said in a May 20 X post.
Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge
The US Labor Department has officially rescinded guidance issued during the Biden administration that limited the inclusion of cryptocurrency in 401(k) retirement plans.
On May 28, the Labor Department revoked a 2022 guidance that had urged fiduciaries to be “extremely cautious” when considering cryptocurrency for 401(k) retirement plans. The move could give asset managers more flexibility to include digital assets in retirement investment options.
The government agency removed the guidance asserting that it represented a departure from the department’s “historically neutral, principled-based approach to fiduciary investment decisions.”
“We’re rolling back this overreach and making it clear that investment decisions should be made by fiduciaries, not D.C. bureaucrats,” said US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
The Labor Department under Biden criticized the practice of marketing cryptocurrencies to 401(k) participants. At the time, the agency claimed cryptocurrencies posed “significant risks and challenges” to participants’ retirement accounts due to their “speculative and volatile” nature and “valuation concerns,” among other reasons.
The American Banking Association (ABA) criticized the 2022 compliance release, claiming that it did not make the guidance available for public comment and review prior to issuance.
Related: Fidelity introduces retirement accounts with minimal-fee crypto investing
Trump administration shifts crypto landscape
President Trump has pledged to make the United States “the world capital of crypto” during his 2024 campaign.
Under his administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has scaled back several enforcement actions and investigations involving Web3 companies such as Uniswap, Coinbase, and Kraken, while also engaging in policy discussions on topics like real-world asset tokenization and the regulatory status of certain tokens.
At the same time, some lawmakers have expressed concerns about Trump’s involvement in the crypto space, including calls for greater scrutiny of his associated ventures.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
Bilal Bin Saqib, head of Pakistan’s crypto council, announced on May 28 that the country is moving to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saqib said the government of Pakistan followed the United States’ lead in establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve and is embracing pro-crypto regulatory policies. The government official told the audience:
“Today is a very historic day. Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them.”
The announcement represents a significant departure from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on cryptocurrencies, holding that crypto would never be legal in the country.
Pakistan’s shift reflects the broader trend of nation-states adopting pro-crypto policies following the regulatory shift in Washington, DC under the President Donald Trump administration.
Related: Pakistan appoints special assistant to PM on blockchain and crypto
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway