How to vote in person?

[Namenamenameshame]

I don't know how to do it or what to do. I don't have any photo id or a vote card (Not sure i ever recieved one but I am registered to vote)
How do you know which polling station to go to.

I checked my local counils website and they only have info on voting by post or online.

I registered to vote online this year and selected the option if postal vote. But i only got a letter saying I was already registered so I didn't need to do anything else. Nothing about post vote. I assumed something would come but nothing has and today is the day! I am panicking and not sure what to do or what I need!
Can i still vote even though I dont drive or haven't left the country so i have no photo id? Could I use a bank statement as proof?

Please don't comment just to make me feel stupid, i have never voted before and have noone to ask in real life. (Ps i already feel stupid)

Your local council should list local polling stations. You don't need id or a polling card to vote.

Find your polling station. Tell them your name and address (no id required). They will cross you off their list and give you the ballot paper. Take it to the booth, mark your cross, pop it in the black box.

wheredoivote.co.uk/ Put your postcode in that should give you your polling station. You don’t need any id to vote so don’t worry

You can only go to the one youre registered at. That’s why it said when I just looked now as I wanted to go to a different one!

Not stupid at all!

But it’s actually easier than you’d think. You can find out where your polling station is online (should be on the council’s website) and you don’t need your polling card or ID to vote. Just go along, give them your name and address. They’ll find it on a long list of registered voters and then give you your paper. You take it to the booth, stick a cross in the box next to the candidate’s name and then post it through the ballot box which is usually on the table.

If you don’t know where your polling station is, ring your local council. They organise the election so they will be able to tell you. Most polling stations are in schools, town halls, village halls etc etc.

Then go along, walk up to the people sat behind the row of desks and give your name. They will cross you off their list and give you your ballot paper. Go into one of the booths and use the pencil provided to put X in the box beside the name of the candidate you want to vote for.

Easy

Normally you vote at the polling station nearest to your registered address. You get sent a polling card telling you the exact location, but if you asked for a postal vote I don't think they would have sent you a polling card.

You don't actually need a polling card to vote, or any other ID. You walk into the polling station, there will be a number of tables, each dealing with a different set of roads in your area. The tables will be clearly labelled, but if you are not sure then there will be people there to ask. They ask your name, and address , tick you off the list and give you a ballot paper to vote with. You go to one of the booths, Mark X for your candidate then put the ballot paper in a sealed box.

However, since you applied for a postal vote it looks as though something has gone wrong as the postal ballot papers were sent out a while ago and the deadline for returning them has gone. I don't know if your name will appear on the list at the polling station , or if there is a separate list for postal ballots. If you find the local polling station you can ask there, there will be someone in charge, but I don't know what the answer will be. Good luck.

You don't need a polling card to vote. Just give your name and address to the person at the desk in your nearest polling station. There's usually at least two people btw. They will tick your name off and give you a ballot paper. They will show you where to go to vote in private and the box you stick your ballot paper in once you are done. They are very helpful.
Best of luck.

Just a thought. What is your nationality? Some people, eg EU citizens are able to be on the electoral roll to vote in local elections, but are not allowed to vote in general elections. Could this be the case for you, would explain why you have had neither a postal ballot or a polling card.

Just checking you're not in NI, as you do need photo ID to vote there.

And a few places in the rest of the UK - Woking comes to mind though I don't know if it was just being trialled for local elections.

Just turn up, go to the table with your road listed, tell them what number you live at, confirm your name and they'll give you your voting slip. Then just x in the box for who you want, fold the paper in half and pop it into the black box back at the table. Easy peasy.

So you’re saying that your postal vote ballot never arrived?

This complicates matters, see screenshot

You don’t need ID but you can’t actually vote in person if you selected to vote by post

Why don’t they want ID? It’s very odd. I could go in first thing as my neighbour, vote then go back in later using my own details. How do they stop this happening?

You can collect a replacement from your local Electoral Registration Office up to 5pm on election day (or the day before in Northern Ireland):

www.gov.uk/contact-electoral-registration-office

It’s worth calling them, explaining that you didn’t receive a postal vote and see what they advise

@Marnie76 not everyone who is entitled to vote has ID though? Whilst you and I might be able to afford a passport or driving license, others can’t. If you block people without ID from voting you’re purposely targeting certain demographics, eg preventing poor people or ethnic minorities from voting?

I'm sure your neighbour would complain about it - its called Impersonation and you could be in serious trouble.

It may be difficult to get through to the council on the phone (the electoral services people will be busy running the polls so the phone will be answered, if at all, by someone from a completely different council department who doesn't have a clue - that happened to me this week) and a lot of council websites don't list polling stations, they just tell you to check your polling card, which you don't have.

So if the phone or web options don't work, I suggest asking your neighbours where the polling station is. It is 99% likely that yours will be the same as anyone else on your road, and in the 1% of cases where it isn't, if you went to that polling station they could tell you where yours was.

You don't need any ID or polling card. The postal vote thing might be a problem, but you'll only know if you turn up at the polling station and find out if you're listed.

You walk in. There may be tellers outside the door who are volunteers for various political parties (and who should be reported if they're passing themselves off as neutral officials), they might ask for your name, polling card, or how you voted. You don't have to tell them anything.

When you get inside, there will be tables organised by what road you live on. The officials in there will point you to yours if you can't immediately see it. You give your name, they give you a piece of paper with all the candidates listed on it.

You take the paper over to one of the little screened-off booths, and put a mark (usually a cross) in the box next to the candidate you want to vote for. Then fold your paper.

Come out of the booth, find the black plastic box to put your paper in (the officials will help you if you're not sure or can't see it). Post the paper through the hole in the top.

Dodge the tellers on the way out, or tell them how you voted if you want to. And job done.

Phone the council to check what happened about your postal vote application, and whether it will be OK for you to vote in person.

Halloumi2019 sorry yes I should have probably said just something that showed your name or address. I realise that couldn’t stop voting fraud completely but it just seems strange that you could go in and just say you are someone with no evidence.

TheWernethWife Well yes obviously but how would they or anyone know who had done it? The neighbour would obviously say they hadn’t voted yet if they went to do it but what would then happen?
Ps I’m not thinking of doing this just thought it odd that it could be done

@Marnie76 Yes, you’re right absolutely that vote fraud is difficult to spot. Some polling stations have cctv, mine is my old secondary school that definitely has cameras in the room, so they could possibly capture someone voting twice. But then again, people are allowed to vote twice if they’re doing a proxy vote for someone else too so that wouldn’t be conclusive.

You cannot vote at a polling station if you registered to vote by post but your ballot paper was lost or damaged.

www.gov.uk/voting-in-the-uk#postal-voting

Sorry but lots of posters are misadvising OP by asking them to go to the polling station. The website clearly states that you’re not allowed to vote in person if you opted for a postal vote, so there will be a problem! Staff won’t give OP a ballot paper if their name isn’t in the list, so it’s a wasted trip.

OP needs to contact their council.

"Why don’t they want ID? It’s very odd. I could go in first thing as my neighbour, vote then go back in later using my own details. How do they stop this"
It's a crime.

Obviously