Accessibility at polling stations

The voting process should be accessible to all voters. We offer a range of support for voters with disabilities to enable them to vote independently or with assistance. The Elections Act 2022 introduces changes to further assist disabled voters at polling stations.

If you are a voter with a disability or require additional support to complete a ballot paper on your own, you can now take a friend or relative to the polling station to help you. They do not have to be eligible to vote and will not need to bring their photo ID. However, they will need to be over 18 years old.  Our polling station staff will also be able to help you. Polling station staff or your companion can help you in a number of ways such as reading out the candidates’ names and their descriptions printed on the ballot paper. They must not tell you how you vote, as that is your decision only.

If you do not wish to vote in person at a polling station, you can vote by post or by proxy.

To help make polling stations accessible we ensure:

  • Polling stations are wheelchair accessible and ramps are provided where needed
  • Polling booths are adapted for wheelchair users
  • Large print versions of ballot papers and Tactile Voting Devices are in each polling station, to enable voters with a visual impairment to mark their ballot paper(s) independently
  • We provide large magnifiers and pencil grips
  • polling stations have adequate lighting and we provide extra lighting where required
  • Polling station staff wear badges so that they are easy to identify

Guides for voters with a learning disability

You can view easy read guides about:

Guides for voters who are partially sighted, blind or deaf

You can download the following guide from the Electoral Commission about voting if you are blind or partially sighted.

You can also view British Sign Language (BSL) videos about: