How to vote

At a polling station

The polling station is the place where you go to vote. It could be a school, hall, community centre or a portable cabin. Find your polling station.

If you are registered to vote at a polling station, you will get a poll card about five weeks before an election. The poll card tells you when the election is, and where your polling station is.

Marking your ballot paper

Ballot papers can be marked with a pencil or pen.

Pencils are usually provided inside polling stations for practical reasons, including:

  • ink pens may dry out or spill
  • when the voter folds the ballot paper, ink may transfer to elsewhere on the ballot paper - this could cause the vote to be rejected (for example, if it looks like they have voted for more candidates than allowed)

Pens are available from the Presiding Officer in the polling station, or you can bring your own pen with you.

There is legislation to prevent and detect tampering with ballot papers:

  • seals must be attached to ballot boxes
  • candidates and agents can be present at the close of poll and can attach their own seals if they wish
  • at the count, candidates and agents can check their seals before the ballot boxes are opened

By post

If you have applied to vote by post, you will get a postal poll card about five weeks before an election. You will then get your postal voting pack about two weeks before election day.

Return your application form to the Elections Office by either:

  • Post: Elections Office, South Tyneside Council, Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields, NE33 2RL
  • Email a scanned copy to: elections@southtyneside.gov.uk
  1. When you get your postal vote, remove the contents from the outer envelope. The envelope will contain:
    • your ballot paper or papers
    • a postal voting statement, with the ballot paper envelope A attached
    • a return envelope marked B
  2. On the postal voting statement, fill in your date of birth and signature (this is to prevent fraud - you have already given these when you completed your postal application form)
  3. Read the instructions on the top of both ballot papers and mark a cross against the candidate or candidates you wish to vote for (with a pen or pencil)
  4. Fold the ballot paper(s) and put them into envelope A
  5. Moisten the purple strip and seal the envelope, with the postal voting statement still attached
  6. Put the ballot paper envelope and postal voting statement into the return envelope B

Post your postal voting pack as soon as possible to make sure it is received before election day.

If you forget to post your postal voting pack, you can hand it in at any polling station in South Tyneside on election day. 

To find a priority post box, visit Royal Mail: Services near you.

Ask someone else to vote on your behalf (proxy vote)

If you're unable to vote in person you can ask someone to vote on your behalf. This is called a proxy vote.

Return your application form to the Elections Office by either:

  • Post: Elections Office, South Tyneside Council, Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields, NE33 2RL
  • Email a scanned copy to: elections@southtyneside.gov.uk

For more information visit GOV.UK: Apply to vote by proxy.

Easy read information for voters with a learning disability

In the videos below, Harry and Charlotte from Mencap talk about their experiences of voting in a polling station and how they think this can be improved for people with a learning disability.

Easy read guides

Mencap, The Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) and the Learning Disability England (LDE) usually create easy read guides for people with learning disabilities explaining how to register to vote and voting in an election. 

MENCAP accessible voting and easy read guides 2022.

BSL Local Government Elections Voting Guides 2022

The Electoral Commission and the British Deaf Association have produced a number of videos explaining how to vote and voting procedures for the Local Government elections. 

BSL Local Elections Voting Guides

Voting fraud

Your vote doesn't belong to anyone who intimidates you, pretends to be you, tries to bribe you, or enter the polling booth with you.

It's yours, and yours alone. If someone tries to take your vote, or the vote of anyone you know, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit Crimestoppers: Your vote is yours alone