Review of Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations 2023

Under the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013, all local authorities have to undertake a review of all polling districts and polling places every 5 years. This does not prevent changes being made at any time prior to the next review. The last review took place in 2019.

The aim of the review was to ensure:

• all electors in a constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances
• as far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place is accessible to all electors who are disabled 

How was the review conducted?

The Acting Returning Officer (ARO) was consulted on the current polling arrangements and the ARO's proposals can be viewed below.

View ARO proposals (PDF) [197KB] (opens new window)  

We invited comments to be submitted on the proposals on the current polling districts, polling places and polling stations from Monday 2 October 2023 and these had to be submitted by midnight on Friday 17 November 2023.

All comments received before the deadline were considered as part of the review and can be viewed below.

The council welcomed views and comments from electors and any persons with expertise in access to premises or facilities for persons with any type of disability. Representations were sought from the local political parties, district members, county councillors and parish councils. 

We were interested in views from residents and asked them to provide as much relevant information as they could about their polling district/place/station including:

• How convenient the location is in relation to where they live?
• Whether there is adequate parking
• What access is available for disabled and/or wheelchair users?
• How suitable is it overall for voting?

Conclusion of Review

All representations received and the proposed changes to the current polling arrangements were considered at a meeting of the Council's General Purposes Committee on 11 January 2024.

Responses from Polling District, Polling Place & Polling Station Review 2023 (PDF) [120KB] (opens new window)

Recommendations from the Council's General Purposes Committee held on 11 January 2024 can be viewed below

Printed draft minutes - General Purposes Committee - Thursday 11 January 2024 10.00am (opens new window)

Explanation of terms used in the review

• A 'Polling District' is a geographical subdivision of an electoral area such as a County Division or District Ward within which a Polling Place is designated.

• A 'Polling Place' is an area or building in which a Polling Station is located and can be a complete Polling District.

• A 'Polling Station' is an area within the Polling Place where voting takes place, e.g. a room in a community centre.

• Polling Districts can be created as an electoral requirement but also as a means to provide a more conveniently located Polling Station for the electorate.

The Electoral Commission have producedGuidance on Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations Reviews. (opens new window)

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