The voting process

You should work in pairs to greet voters and issue ballot papers at the polling station. You can swap roles throughout the day to ensure that it is fair.

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If you have to turn anyone away for not having the correct ID, remember to keep a log of it. You can find out more about this on our voter ID page.

If anyone brings their poll card to the polling station please ask them to take it away with them so that they can dispose of it confidentially.

Don't forget, if you are working in a polling station with a combined election you need to make sure you give the voters both ballot papers and record both ballot papers on your CNL. If they don't know why they have two, please explain that they are separate polls.

When marking the register, you should be careful not to cross out a voters name, so that we can read it later if needed.

You should put a marker between the voters name and their elector number, to indicate that they have voted, like with Gareth and Parminder above.

If Gareth was the first person to vote, he would have been given ballot paper 5000001 and his elector number (415) would be logged for this ballot paper on the CNL.

For polling stations with two ballot papers, they are recorded in separate columns on your CNL and the ballot paper numbers may be different, so make sure you play close attention!

Some voters may need additional help when casting their vote in the polling station, it could even be their first time voting!

Although we need to be careful that we do not interfere with how they vote, it is important that we support them in casting their vote so that they feel confident in doing it again.

They may just need you to explain to them how many candidates they can vote for, which you can check on the notices in the polling station.

They may need your help, or the help of someone that they have come with, to put their mark on the ballot paper. You can do this, you just need to make sure that whoever marks their vote for them completes the form provided.

If the Presiding officer marks their vote, then they should complete the statement of votes marked by the presiding officer.
If a companion of the voter marks their vote, then they should complete the companion declaration.

You can watch the interview with Charlotte below to hear how important it is to empower everyone to be able to cast their vote.

Some voters set up a proxy vote allowing someone else to cast their vote on their behalf. They will be shown on the register with a P marker and their proxy voters details will be shown on the absent voters list.

An elector or their proxy can cast their vote in the polling station, so when they arrive you should always check that the other hasn't already voted. If they have, you should just explain that the vote has already been cast.

Emergency proxies

There are some circumstances where a voter can apply for an emergency proxy on election day.

They have fallen unwell after the date to apply for an ordinary proxy
They have been called away for work after the date to apply for an ordinary proxy
They have caught covid-19 after the date to apply for an ordinary proxy
They have lost or not received their ID after the date to apply for an ordinary proxy

If any voters arrive at the polling station saying that this applies to any members of their family, you will be able to provide them with the forms to apply. Applications must be returned to us before 5pm.

If any emergency proxies have been set up at your polling station, then we will notify you. Do not issue any emergency proxy votes that we have not notified you of.

Sometimes a voter's details on the electoral register may be different to the name they normally go by, or their ID.

This could be due to a number of reasons but it is most common when someone has changed their surname after getting married.

You are allowed to issue ballot papers to people if their details are different, as long as you are satisfied that they are that person. If you think it is necessary you should ask them the prescribed questions set out under 'concerns that a voter is not who they say they are'.

If you notice that someone's name does need updating, please make sure that you record it in the supplementary information booklet so that we can change it after the election.

Voters that are not included on your register

Some people that come to your polling station to vote might not be on the electoral register.

You should first check that they are at the right polling station. If their road isn't listed on your register then you should encourage them to check their polling station at wheredoivote.co.uk

If they are not included on your electoral register, and their home address is in your area, they are not registered to vote.

Some people may think that they have registered to vote if they responded to a letter/email from us during the canvass period. This exercise confirms who is living at an address but does not add them to the register. Any new residents that are identified in this process are written to, encouraging them to register to vote individually.

If a voter has recently moved and is not yet registered to vote at their new address. They may still be able to vote at their old address, if they haven't been removed. If their old address was in Chelmsford you can encourage them to call us to check this.

The deadline to register to vote

The deadline to register to vote at these elections is 11th April. If someone registers after this, they are not able to vote in these elections.

However, if they have recently moved, then they may still be registered to vote at their old address and can vote at this polling station.

If you, a candidate or their agent thinks that a voter is not who they say they are, then you should ask them a set of questions to confirm their identity. You are not permitted to ask them any other questions to confirm their identity.

This does not happen often.

You can ask the prescribed questions if:

you think they are commiting personation (pretending to be someone else)
you think that they are under age
when an elector says that their name is different to what you have on the electoral register
you are asked by a candidate or agent

The prescribed questions

There are a different set of questions that you should ask for different scenarios, all are detailed in your handbook, but the questions to ask an ordinary elector are:

What is your name?
What is your address?
Are you the person registered in the register of local government electors for this election as follows (read out the entry to the register - name and address)?
Have you already voted elsewhere at this election other than as a proxy?

If they answer all of these questions satisfactorily, then you must give them an ordinary ballot paper.

However, there would be some cases where even if they answer all of the questions they should still only be given a tendered ballot paper e.g. If they are showing on the register a a postal voter.

You should make sure that you log any instances of this happening in your supplementary information booklet.

Spoilt ballot papers

If a voter makes a mistake on their ballot paper, you should first encourage them to correct the mistake and reassure them that as long as their vote is clear it will be accepted.

If they cannot correct their mistake, they can be issued a new, ordinary, ballot paper.

You should make sure that their spoilt ballot paper is put in the spoilt ballot paper envelope and that the CNL is updated to reflect their new ballot paper number.

Tendered ballot papers

There are some cases where a voter cannot be issued an ordinary ballot paper but may insist that a vote is recorded, this would allow them to dispute the matter later. In these circumstances, you can issue a tendered (pink) ballot paper.

Before issuing a tendered ballot paper, you should ask the prescribed questions.

The circumstances where you can give a voter a tendered ballot paper include:

They are showing on the register as already having voted - including where a proxy has voted before an elector or vice versa
A postal voter claims not to have applied for a postal vote (before issuing a tendered ballot paper, you should remind them that they can apply for a reissue of their postal vote, an ordinary ballot paper before 5pm)
A postal voter claims to have lost or spoilt their postal vote after 5pm

You should keep a record of any tendered ballot papers in your supplementary information booklet and ensure that tendered ballot papers are placed in the tendered ballot papers envelope, not the ballot box.