Polling District Review 2024
Each polling district has a polling place, also known as polling station. This is where everyone registered to vote in person in that area goes to cast their vote during elections.
Every five years, we have to review the polling station. This is to make sure that we can meet electors’ needs, the location is accessible, and that the venues can accommodate the size of the electorate.
We are reviewing the arrangements this year, and would like your views.
You can view a map which shows the current polling districts and the location of polling stations.
We welcome the suggestions from residents, community groups and charities in the area. We are particularly interested in hearing from you if you have expertise in access for people with any type of disability.
We will also send a copy of the notice to local support groups, political groups and councillors, and educational bodies, to ask for their views.
You can view the notice of review of polling districts and polling places 2023/24.
The Boundary Commission for England recently reviewed the boundaries for parliamentary constituencies in England. They have recommended the following changes to the constituencies within Chelmsford:
- Saffron Walden constituency to be renamed North West Essex
- the city council ward of Galleywood to be removed from Chelmsford constituency and added to Maldon
You can find out more about the Boundary Commission's parliamentary review.
Acting Returning Officer's initial recommendations
We have now published the Acting Returning Officer's initial recommendations.
- Friday 27 October 2023: Publication of Notice and start of consultation period
- Friday 24 November 2023: Publication of Returning Officer’s Proposals
- Friday 15 December 2023: Consultation closes
- Wednesday 17 January 2024: Final proposals considered at Committee meeting
- Thursday 1 February 2024: Alterations made to Electoral Register
You can search a specific address in this map by using the search box in the top right-hand corner. Alternatively, you can zoom in on and navigate around a wider area.
You can select the Layers List icon to turn the boundary layers on and off.
The key layers to look at are:
- polling stations (stars)
- polling districts (purple)
You may also find it helpful to look at:
- parishes (red)
- parish wards (olive)
- city wards (green)
- parliamentary constituencies (blue)
- future parliamentary constituencies (yellow)
If you are looking at the parliamentary constituencies layer, you should be aware that the Saffron Walden constituency will be called North West Essex in future.
You can give us your views now.
The consultation will close on Friday 15 December 2023.
We are responsible for ensuring that polling places are accessible and practical for everyone in the area. It is our priority to ensure that we provide a good voting experience.
Legislation sets out the key requirements, which are that:
- each parish is to be a separate polling district, unless special circumstances apply
- the council must designate a polling place for each polling district
- the polling place must be within the polling district, unless special circumstances apply (for example, if no accessible polling place can be identified in the district)