Douglas East by-election

Voters in Douglas East are going to the polls today (Thursday) to elect a new member of the House of Keys.

There are just over 3,790 people registered to vote in the constituency and there is a field of six candidates, namely Kate Beecroft, Colin Cain, Chris Heath, Jon Joughin, Chris Robertshaw and Kevin Woodford.

It's been a long run-in to the election, which was triggered by the elevation of Phil Braidwood to the Legislative Council.

But, after weeks of campaigning, door knocking, public meetings and media interviews, the outcome is now in the hands of the voters.

On Mandate today, returning officer Chris Cope told Marian Kenny ensuring the democratic process goes ahead without incident has been quite an undertaking: 

 click here to listen to audio 

There are five polling stations which are open until 8pm.

Votes will be counted at Douglas Town Hall, with the result expected some time after 10 pm.

Manx Radio will be there, reporting into our programmes tonight, and we hope to have the new MHK for Douglas East live in the Mandate studio tomorrow (Friday) morning.