Guidance for Candidates at Parish council elections in England

The voting process can be summarised as follows.

Polling station staff will:

• ask voters for their name and address before making sure that they are eligible to vote by checking against the register of electors
• ask the voter to produce their photographic ID
• verify the photographic ID
• mark a straight line against the voter’s entry on the register of electors
• call out the name and electoral number of the elector
• write the elector number on a list (the Corresponding Numbers List) next to the number of the ballot paper to be issued
• ensure that the ballot paper includes the official mark (e.g. a barcode or watermark)
• fold the ballot paper and then hand it unfolded to the elector so that they can see all of the options on the ballot paper

The elector will then: 

• take the ballot paper to the polling booth, and
• mark the ballot paper in private, unless assisted by a companion or the Presiding Officer
• fold the marked ballot paper and show the ballot paper number and unique identifying mark on the back of the ballot paper to the Presiding Officer
• place the ballot paper into the ballot box and then leave the polling station

The polling station will have facilities for any voter who wishes to have their ID checked in private.

Where the voter does not bring ID or brings an incorrect form of ID, the voter will be able to return to the polling station with an acceptable form of photographic ID. Once an acceptable form of ID is shown, the voter will be issued with a ballot paper.

Combined Polls

Where the election has been combined with another electoral event, polling station staff will be issuing the ballot papers for all electoral events that the voter is eligible to vote at.

This means that sometimes electors may not be receiving all of the ballot papers being issued in the polling station, as they may not be entitled to vote at every electoral event.
 
If polls have been combined, a single ballot box may be used for all contests, or separate ballot boxes may be used for each separate contest. 

Accessibility in polling stations

The Returning Officer has a responsibility to ensure that voting is accessible. They must provide each polling station with a range of equipment as is reasonable for the purposes of enabling or making it easier for disabled voters to vote independently and in secret.

The Presiding Officer can assist anyone who is unable to mark the ballot paper themselves.1 Alternatively, a voter may bring along someone they know and trust to assist them in marking their vote.2 The person assisting the voter must be aged 18 or over, and can only assist a maximum of two voters at the election.

Any person attending the polling station to assist an elector must complete a declaration to the Presiding Officer before they aid the elector in the polling booth.