British Dopers, tell the rest of us about voting!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

And by that, I mean the actual voting, please. Not who you voted for or on what basis, or why your guy/gal is better than the other tosser, but mundane stuff like:

What sort of building do you have to go to? What are the hours, and how do they differ in different countries (Scotland, Wales, etc.)?

What issues or referenda and other offices were on the ballot besides your MP’s, if any?

Paper or plast–I mean, machines with levers, electronic gizmos, punchcards with those little pins, butterfly ballots, those booths with the curtains, or just papers and pencils? How is it kept secret?

As a pollworker meself, I’d like to know who mans the polls. Or usually, womans them. Volunteers, paid people, party officials, or the local vicar or ruddy-cheeked Squire (God bless 'im)?

In my state, guys with signs and all have to stay 150 feet away from the door and can’t bug people when they come out either, lest they be accused of “electioneerin’” (it’s not pronounced with the g at the end). Is electioneerin’ OK at or near the polls?

Do you have poll-watchers from the parties and/or lawyers around to prevent hanky-panky? What if you show up at the wrong place because you’ve moved/changed names/whatever–is there an affadavit ballot you can cast that’s counted later, do they point you to the right place and can you trudge over there, or are you just out of luck?

I imagine a sunlit High Street, with a long line of cheerful Brits all queueing up at the door of the basement of the ancient local Church of England to cast their ballots proudly under the watchful gaze of a poster of the Queen (God bless 'er), and then repairing to the pub or tea-room for post-voting discussions of a wit, intelligence, and perceptiveness that would make the average American weep with envy. But I suppose I could be wrong. :smiley:

Thanks. Just want to compare the actual voting experience in your part of the country with the one in mine.

2

here are a few answers :-

Hours 7am till 10 pm

Voting is on paper with a cross marked by a pencil

The location is usually something like a church hall , school or any available similar building. the voting takes place in a small booth which has a curtain across its doorway.

In some parts of the country there are two elections taking place. one is for the parliamentary candidate and the other for local county county candidates(s). We don’t vote for any other public officers such as dog catchers in the UK

there will be representatives of the various parties at the door but there are just there to see that everything is above board. They cannot carry out any electioneering and they must stay outside the actual room where voting is taking place.

3

Some details from the Australian perspective:

We usually vote in the local school hall or gym, or the local town hall, or the local church hall. Voting hours are from 8.00am until 6.00pm. Elections are always held on a Saturday.

The ballot papers are paper, listing the candidates’ names in random order. We use a pencil to number the candidates in order of preference. Then we place the completed ballot appers directly into the ballot box.

As far as I’m aware, the polls are manned by paid officials of the Electoral Commission. Obviously many of them are casual workers taken on solely for that day.

A similar system operates here, although I’m not sure of the exact “separation” distance required and I suspect it differs from state to state. The representatives of the various political parties usually stand outside on the street, just near the entrance gate to the school and thrust their voting material at you as you enter. They certainly aren’t allowed to come near the actual hall where the voting takes place.

I’m not too sure for this point. I don’t think there are any lawyers hanging around. The electoral process works pretty smoothly. The political parties certainly have offical scrutineers present when the votes are counted after the polls have closed, but I doubt that they’re present during the actual voting itself. I’m not sure what happens if your name isn’t on the elctoral roll (and you think it should be). It’s never happened to me. Enrolment on the electoral roll is compulsory here as soon as you turn 18, or subsequently change your address, and I’ve always been careful to make sure my enrolment is up to date.

4

I’m not sure of the exact restrictions, but I’m fairly certain there’s a lot of legal restrictions on full-blown campaigning once the polls are open.

Out of luck. It’s your (legal) responsibility to ensure you’re on the electoral register with the correct address, and the last opportunity to do this is some weeks before the election. (There’s no time for any belated ballots - at 10pm on the dot, the counting mechanism swings into place. The first results are announced soon after 11, and most are known by the early hours.)

You got the pub and the witty conversation right, and that’s about it :wink: (we generally don’t have to queue to vote - a typical polling station only serves a few hundred people, so they don’t get that busy. The whole process takes about two minutes.)

5

In Oxford, the voting promises to be squeaky clean :smiley:

6

I’ve just voted for the first time in the UK, and put down some of my thoughts on the process in this other thread.

Grim

7

I’ve just realised that Cunctator was talking about Australia, which is why the description didn’t quite ring true :doh: …and that means I’ll more confidently state that no campaigning is allowed during the actual election. (I’m 90% sure this is the case.) There’s also other restrictions, such as the media not being allowed to release any exit polls until 10pm, to prevent any ‘undue influence’ on undecided voters.

8

I will be voting in my local library. Primary schools, church halls, community centres are also used. I think I’ve heard of people voting in a pub, but that’s never happened to me.

The presiding officer is in charge of the polling station, and will have an assistants/deputies. I’ve only ever seen three officials in there at any one time. One crosses your name of the list of eligable voters, one stamps and hands you the ballot paper and one watches you put it in the box.

Voting is done in a booth. If there is any queuing in the hall, this is done a distance away, but how far I can’t remember. I’ve never queued when voting, I vaguely remeber doing so when I went with my mother.

My vote is kept private by me folding the paper in two. The presiding officer (s/he who watches the ballot box) checks it has the official mark on it and it is posted into the box.

As for showing up at the wrong place - you vote where ever you are registered. I.e. you are to go to the polling station printed on your poll card, which will be sent to the address where you are registered. For example, students might be registered at their parents house rather than at their university address. They would either have to return there to vote, appoint a proxy to vote in person for them, or register for a postal vote. Postal voting has become a controversial issue at this election since there has been a very big increase in the number of people opting for this. There have also been accusations of fraud. Whether we will find people turning up to vote in person only to find they have been registered for a postal vote we won’t know until tomorrow.

The papers go back to counting stations. The political parties have agents who are allowed to observe the counting process.

The whole process (the issuing of cards, to the counting of votes and announcing results) is under the supervision of the returning officer of that constituency.

The returning officer is employed the local council. I’ve no idea if there would be more than one local council for a constituency, since I’ve only ever lived in urban areas, where this hasn’t occurred. Where there is more than one constituency for a local council area, there will be a corresponding number of acting returning officers.

The staff for elections tends to be supplied by the local council - they will have an electoral dept or team, plus volunteers (often other council staff) who they train.

9

Paper and pencil, you keep it secrect by folding it before you post it in the ballot box :slight_smile:

I’m not sure who the people are who man/woman the poll, they don’t wear funny hats or anything. IIRC all they do is give you your ballot paper, ask your name and cross you off their list.

Sometimes there are party types mooching around outside, I’ve been asked in the past by them if I’ve voted for their guy (an exit poll!). I’ve never seen any electioneering anywhere near a polling station.

I haven’t voted yet. The polling station is a community hall next to a mini-mart. I don’t recall a picture of the queen, given the venue’s day-to-day use there may be pictures of teletubbies or dinosaurs (I will try to remember to look out). The local pub is across the street - I won’t be stopping off there tho’ I suppose many will.

10

Polling stations are being used in pubs, a fire station, a golf club, a caravan, a vestry, and some guy’s kitchen:

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5038476.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4515173.stm
http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=1014769

11

The gate-house of Nottingham Castle is being used as a polling station. Do you think Robin Hood would have approved ?

12

Typically there will be a bunch of people from the various parties* outside the polling station checking who has and has not attended (this in addition to the controls etc being done inside) - towards the end of the polling day, it isn’t unusual for candidates and representatives to call at the houses of people who have not been marked as attending the polling station and offer them a lift by car to the station (presumably hoping that you’ll think they’re so nice in offering that you’ll vote for them, but they’re always really careful not to attach any strings).

*interesting, because they are often seen co-operating with regards to marking the lists, if there’s a sudden rush of attendance, for example.

The whole voting process is (in my opinion) incredibly genteel and polite.

13

I’ll be off this evening to vote for the first time ever. I’ve got a tingling sensation of anticipation (although that could also be the anaesthetic).

Of course, since it’s a secret ballot, once I’ve marked my cross, I’ll be shredding the ballot paper and burning it to make sure no one knows what my vote was.

14

I voted at about 12.10 and there were actually 3 people queuing ahead of me!

One of the candidates standing in my constituency (Ealing Southall) mustt be among the oldest candidates in the whole UK. The standing Labour man, Piara Khabra, was born in November 1924 which, by my reckoning, puts him into his 81st year. If he is re-elected - and his majority at the last election was 13,683, down from 21,423 previously, so it’s looking likely - and the Parliament goes its full 5-year term (and provided he stays alive…), he’ll be 86 at the next election!

15

Apparently he is the oldest of all: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200505050301.htm

16

…looking up Ted Heath’s age to compare, I found this nice nugget:

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page128.asp

(And yes, a full five-year term would take Khabra beyond Heath’s age when he stood down)

17

Just out of interest, are you voting in Cambridge City, or one of the outer districts?

Last year I was in Cherry Hinton, so I felt my vote would have made a difference, but now I’m in one of the leafy villages, which tend to be true-blue all the way through so I’m not sure my vote for the Welsh Nationalists will have much effect. :frowning:

18

To an American, this is the strangest aspect of the election. O would that you could see our many-layered multi-page election ballots!

Questions:

  1. Are the county elections partisan?
  2. Regarding the parliamentary election, how many candidates do you typically have on your ballot? We hear about the three main parties, of course, but does one commonly encounter minor parties or independents on the ballot as well?
19

Cripes!!

His majority at the last election was drastically cut, mainly because of a chap called Avtar Lit, who runs Sunrise Radio which serves Asian communities up & down the country, who stood as a “Real Labour” candidate. He isn’t standing this time.

20

Yes. The big three parties dominate just about every council in England (although there’s plenty with ‘no overall control’, the local equivalent of a hung parliament). In Scotland and Wales, the SNP and Plaid Cymru naturally play a big role in local politics. And each local councillor is elected from a particular ‘division’ (equivalent to a constituency). Although, actually now I think about it, there might be more complications, with two-member divisions & whatnot…time to Google…

The big three stand for every constituency in England, Wales & Scotland - I’m not sure if they stand at all in Northern Ireland. The Green Party also put up a lot of candidates, as do Ukip. That’s all I had on my ballot this morning.

It’s been made harder for independent candidates to stand, by making the deposit more expensive (you get this repaid if you win IIRC more than 5% of the vote). It’s also no longer possible to stand under a made-up party name - you either have to represent a fully-registered political party, or simply be ‘independent’.

Standing against Blair are:

  • the Senior Citizen’s Party and the Pensioner’s Party (never heard of either of them)
  • Veritas (a one-man breakaway from Ukip)
  • the Monster Raving Loonys and the Blair Must Go Party (both of which will actually be registered political parties)
  • the National Front (unreconstructed racists)
  • Several independents, including Reg Keys, who has made something of a media splash (his son died in Iraq)