Response to statutory consultation on guidance for Returning Officers on assistance with voting for disabled people 

Legislation  

The Elections Act 2022 included amendments to the Representation of the People Act 1983, which introduced a new requirement for ROs to provide such equipment as is reasonable for the purposes of enabling, or making it easier for, relevant persons to vote independently and in secret at the polling station.  

We must give guidance to ROs on this duty and consult on this guidance. ROs must have regard to this guidance in performing their duty. Ahead of the May 2026 elections, the Scottish and Welsh Governments have introduced legislation to align the accessibility provisions for Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections with the changes introduced by the Elections Act 2022.1 Separate legislation will follow covering local government elections in Scotland and Wales.

‘Relevant persons’ are defined in the legislation as those who find it difficult or impossible to vote due to blindness, partial sight or another disability.  

‘Independently’ refers to voting without assistance from another person, not without any form of assistive device.

These provisions will now apply to:  

• UK Parliamentary elections,
• Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales,
• Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections,
• Scottish Parliament elections,
• Senedd elections,
• local elections in England.  

We expect these provisions to be introduced for Welsh local elections and Scottish council elections in May 2027.

ROs are personally responsible for the conduct of elections in their area. In Northern Ireland, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is the RO, so references to ‘ROs’ throughout this document and the guidance should be read to include the CEO.  

Development of the guidance  

The updated guidance was developed in two phases:  

• A pre-consultation phase, during which we engaged with representatives from the electoral administration sector and a range of civil society, charity and third-sector organisations across the whole of the UK. These organisations represent disabled people, people with mental health conditions, and people with invisible disabilities.
• A 12-week public consultation on draft guidance, which received 72 responses from members of the public, electoral administrators and a range of organisations.  

Questions asked as part of the consultation were:

• Disabled people face barriers when voting in elections. Does the guidance help Returning Officers to understand these barriers?  
• Does the guidance support Returning Officers to understand what their legal responsibilities are in relation to supporting disabled people to vote at a polling station, and how to meet them?  
• The guidance sets out a minimum list of equipment that should be provided in all polling stations, and further equipment that Returning Officers could provide if appropriate. Do you think that the information in the guidance on equipment and support is appropriate?  Does the guidance help Returning Officers to raise public awareness of the support available for disabled people voting at polling stations, and how they can request additional equipment and support?
• Does the guidance provide Returning Officers with the information they need to assess their current accessibility measures and identify ways to improve them for future elections? 

Here we set out a summary of the main themes and issues raised in the statutory consultation responses, and how we have considered them in updating our guidance and in our wider work to support making elections accessible to all.  

Addressing barriers to voting

Overall, respondents welcomed the updated guidance and felt that it provided a comprehensive overview of the barriers faced by disabled voters and how these might be addressed.  

We have made the following updates to our guidance as a result of comments received from individuals, charities and civil society groups in relation to addressing the needs of people who are clinically vulnerable or have hidden disabilities specifically:  

• We added information on the barriers faced by immunosuppressed people, people with post-viral complications such as long Covid, and people with hidden disabilities, recognising the need to ensure that voting for these people is accessible.
• We added additional examples of how clinically vulnerable voters can be best supported, such as ensuring there is adequate ventilation in polling stations by opening doors and windows where possible or using high efficiency particulate air/arresting (HEPA) filters where appropriate. The guidance now also suggests that face masks be made available in polling stations and staff be trained to follow the protocol of ‘see a mask/wear a mask’ when supporting voters.
• We expanded on areas to be covered in polling station staff training to include awareness that not all disabilities are visible or obvious, and that polling station staff should not make assumptions about what equipment voters might need. We suggest how to offer support to voters with hidden disabilities, such as anxiety or autism.

Clearer legal framework for Returning Officers

Some respondents asked for additional information to be provided to ROs to clarify their legal responsibilities in delivering accessible elections.  

Whilst it is not appropriate or possible to include a specific definition of a 'reasonable adjustment' due to the importance of decisions on adjustments taking into account local circumstances and specific requests from voters, we have sought to expand our guidance in this area. We have:  

• provided greater clarity on the requirements of equalities legislation to anticipate the needs of disabled voters and the requirements to make reasonable adjustments.  
• highlighted that Equality Impact Assessments are a helpful tool for ROs to use to consider the needs of disabled voters consistently, and to demonstrate compliance and commitment to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
• added wording to clarify the applicability of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland.  
• strengthened wording regarding record keeping and the maintenance of audit trails.

Equipment to be provided in polling stations and other resources

We received suggestions to amend both the list of equipment to be provided as a minimum in polling stations, as well as the list of additional equipment that ROs could provide in polling stations.

We have updated and expanded the list of additional equipment to support disabled voters. This includes consideration of how to display polling station notices in accessible ways, such as using pictorial or easy read formats, the use of the British Sign Language Video Relay interpreting service, the types of audio solutions that could be provided, and the provision of equipment to enable polling station staff to support clinically vulnerable electors.

We also received some suggestions that audio solutions and hearing loops should be moved to the minimum list of equipment to be provided.  

We recognise that audio solutions can be a helpful option for some disabled voters, but user testing research findings, including trials run by governments in collaboration with charities, have been mixed to date and consultation responses we have received have also provided a range of differing views. We have not seen compelling evidence that these would be the best option to support blind/partially sighted voters in every polling station, nor that it would be feasible or proportionate for ROs to procure, fund and set up the number of devices needed to be able to provide one in every polling station. This issue is compounded where there are multiple polls taking place on the same day and/or large numbers of candidates standing.  

We also recognise that hearing loops can be helpful for some electors with hearing aids or cochlear implants, and the guidance recommends that these be used whenever available in polling station venues. However, where loops are not already fitted into a venue, we think it remains proportionate for ROs to consider hiring and providing these where most appropriate to do so.

In all cases, it is most important that ROs consider the right support to provide for voters in each polling station given there will be different requests and needs. Retaining the provision of both audio devices and hearing loops on the list of additional equipment that ROs can provide to support disabled voters helps to maintain the flexibility for them to consider the provision of support holistically and sensitively.  

Public awareness and partnerships

Some respondents requested that the guidance go further to encourage and provide further advice to ROs to help them communicate with disabled voters and run outreach activity both before and during polling day.  

We have done this by updating our guidance to:

• highlight the importance of preparing and communicating with voters in advance so that relevant support can be requested where needed in good time
• encourage ROs to provide information in a range of accessible formats such as step-by-step pictorial guides, to support people with hidden disabilities
• clarify the importance of providing support in a range of formats to reach those electors who are digitally excluded
• link to our partnership resources within the guidance  
• link to the Social Model of Disability to support ROs to use inclusive language in their communications.

We have clarified the wording in our guidance for ROs to support year-round planning to meet their anticipatory duties as well as working with local charities to ensure that tailored support can be given to voters, rather than adopting a one-size fits all approach.

We have also strengthened the guidance to support ROs in communicating with voters who may face overlapping barriers to voting, such as disabled people who are also facing language barriers.

Following comments received about encouraging feedback from disabled voters we have also reinforced the importance of this in our guidance and made explicit reference to our template questionnaire which ROs can use to collect this. We have also been clear that this template is not prescriptive and that ROs should think about other feedback options that could be used such as non-written formats which would be more accessible for some voters. 

As part of our regular post-poll surveys of polling station staff and electoral administrators, we will ask for feedback about the accessibility support provided to voters and about any other specific support that was requested and provided to voters. We will do this after the May 2026 polls in England, Scotland and Wales.

Resource illustrating how ROs have supported disabled voters  

Alongside our guidance we are publishing a resource that sets out examples of successful approaches taken by ROs to support disabled voters, such as engagement with local disability groups, implementing a pre-elections communication strategy and linking to useful websites.  

This resource will be continuously developed as more examples are shared with us. Please can we ask you to share any examples you would like included by contacting your local Electoral Commission office.  

In response to requests made through the consultation, we have produced some additional new resources for ROs to use. These include a checklist for equipment to be provided at the polling station and a template for ROs to share and individuals to use when making requests for reasonable adjustments.  

Comments received which were out of scope  

Some responses raised issues outside the scope of this consultation and the guidance, and some requests would require further legislative change. These included:  

• the availability of telephone or electronic voting.  
• publication of candidate and party information in accessible formats well ahead of an election.

Some respondents also raised wider concerns around staff capacity, recruiting staff, and funding. We will continue to monitor these as part of our wider engagement with ROs. Whilst funding remains a matter for relevant governments, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have advised that where equipment that has been purchased for previous elections will be used at a future UK Parliamentary election, it may be possible to claim a portion of the cost via the Elections Claims Unit (ECU). ROs should talk to the ECU ahead of the next UK Parliamentary election to understand how this may apply to them before any claim is submitted. 

The breakdown of statutory consultation responses by question does not include those respondents who chose to submit feedback in other formats or as free text only. All responses have been considered when updating the guidance and in our wider work to support making elections accessible to all.