General Election voting – you need to know

Polling stations open from 7 am–10 pm on 4 July.

If you’re not sure where your local polling station is it will be on your poll card.

Alternatively, visit Find your polling station | Where Do I Vote? and simply enter your postcode. You don’t need to bring your poll card to vote but it may help speed up the process when you arrive at your polling station.  

The polling station will have been temporarily set up in a school hall or community centre or other venue. It might be a different place from where it was last time, so please double-check. This information is on your poll card.

Please expect the polling stations to be busy, especially at busy times, such as after 5 pm and into the evening. Please be prepared to wait, and once you’re in the queue you will be able to vote if you joined it before 10 pm.

If you’re voting in person, this is the first general election where photo ID – such as a passport or driving licence – is required.

Not all forms of photo ID are valid so please check you’ve got one that will work.  

Anyone registered to vote whose photo ID is lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged can apply for an emergency proxy, which means you can have someone you trust to vote on your behalf.

You can apply until 5 pm on polling day, Thursday 4 July.

Postal votes should be returned using Royal Mail. Please post your postal vote back as quickly as possible. If, for any reason, you need to hand deliver them to your polling station, please be mindful you will need to follow the new legislation. You can only hand in your own and up to five others. Additionally, you must complete a form, otherwise all postal packs will be rejected. Polling stations will be very busy on polling day so please post your postal vote if you can.

Postal ballot packs can be handed in at the reception desks at the following council offices – Macclesfield Town Hall, Westfields Sandbach, Delamere House Crewe and Municipal Buildings Crewe.

Postal ballot packs cannot be handed in at any other Cheshire East premises for example libraries.

You will need to complete a document containing your details, to hand in with the completed postal ballot packs. The document is available at the polling station, the council offices detailed above or via the Postal Vote Return Form.

The maximum number of postal ballot packs that can be handed in to a polling station by one person is your own, plus those of up to five others.

More postal vote information can be found on our absent voting webpage.

Polling stations – dos and don’ts

• Children may accompany you inside the polling station but they are not allowed to mark your vote on the ballot paper.
• Dogs (apart from assistance dogs) aren’t usually allowed inside polling stations. 
• You’re not allowed to talk about the candidates or parties inside the polling station as political discussion is banned inside them. Staff will intervene if they hear any references to candidates or parties.
• Once inside the polling station, you are not allowed to take photos, including selfies, because the Electoral Commission – which oversees UK elections – says it risks the secrecy of the ballot. The punishment for revealing how someone else voted – even accidentally – is a fine of up to £5,000, or six months in prison. Photos may be taken outside.

Receiving, marking and submitting your ballot paper

You’ll be asked for your name, address and acceptable photo ID and will be given a ballot paper at your polling station. You can use any free booth and pencils are provided (but you’re also allowed to use your own).

Follow the instructions displayed in the booth. You then fold the paper in half and post it into the ballot box.

Extra assistance

If you’re unsure what to do, or are disabled, polling station staff can help you, or you may bring someone with you.

In England, anyone over the age of 18 can help you cast your vote. They do not need to be eligible to vote in that election.

Polling stations should have large-print sample ballot papers and tactile voting devices to help people with visual impairments.

You can take your phone into the polling booth to use as a magnifier or text-to-speech apps, or the phone torch to improve lighting. But you must not take any photos inside the polling station.

Do I have to give my details to ‘tellers’ outside the polling station?

Sometimes ‘tellers’ stand outside the polling station and ask voters for the number on their polling card. They are volunteers who work for candidates.

They use the information to check who has voted, so they can remind people who have not yet done so. Tellers are allowed to ask for your polling card number but you do not have to give it to them if you don’t wish to. 

Results

The votes will be counted overnight and results declared in the early hours of 5 July. Please visit our website’s elections page for the election results.

Need further information?

For more information, visit the parliamentary elections page on the Cheshire East website.