In accordance with The Representation of the People Act 1983, each local authority is required to carry out a review of their polling districts, polling places and polling stations for UK parliamentary constituencies at least once every 5 years. The current review period ends on 31 January 2025.
What needs to be considered as part of the review
Local authorities must also comply with the following legislative requirements regarding the designation of polling districts and polling places:
- each parish in England and community in Wales is to be a separate polling district, unless special circumstances apply
- the council must designate a polling place for each polling district, unless the size or other circumstances of a polling district are such that the situation of the polling stations does not materially affect the convenience of the electors
- the polling place must be an area in the district, unless special circumstances make it desirable to designate an area wholly or partly outside the district (for example, if no accessible polling place can be identified in the district)
- the polling place must be small enough to indicate to electors in different parts of the district how they will be able to reach the polling station.
As part of the compulsory review, local authorities must consider the accessibility of potential polling stations when considering designating or reviewing a polling place. In doing so they must seek to ensure that:
- all electors in a constituency in the local authority area have such reasonable facilities for voting as practicable in the circumstances
- so far as is reasonable and practicable, every polling place for which it is responsible is accessible to electors who are disabled.
Consultation documents
Consultation document: Polling district and polling place review 2024-25
Acting Returning Officer (ARO) Submission 2024
Polling districts maps (including polling stations)
Polling district maps (including polling stations)
Have your say
We want residents, particularly residents with a disability, or any person or body with expertise in access for persons with any type of disability to have their say regarding the convenience of voting at polling stations currently used for elections and would welcome suggestions for alternative sites.
This consultation closed on Friday 29 November 2024