Help for disabled voters
New Voter ID requirements for May Elections
We offer a range of support to disabled voters.
At the Polling Station
As many polling places as possible are wheelchair accessible, and we provide temporary ramps where needed. Where available, reserved parking is available for voters with disabilities.
Our staff working in the polling station will wear a name badge and are available to help and give guidance.
Equipment
There is a range of equipment provided to each polling station to enable, or make it easier, for voters with disabilities to cast their vote independently and in secret. The equipment includes:
- Polling booths at wheelchair level to help voters who use a wheelchair to access a lower writing surface.
- Additional lights in the booth
- Enlarged handheld copies of the ballot paper can be given to voters who are partially sighted to take into the polling booth.
- A 'tactile voting device' to enable blind or visually impaired voters to mark their ballot papers without help.
- Magnifiers to increase the size of the text on a document, providing support for voters who are visually impaired to vote independently.
- Chairs/seating providing a place to rest for voters who cannot stand for long periods.
- Pencil grips to help voters with dexterity impairments to more easily hold and use a pencil independently.
If you need further assistance to mark your ballot paper, help is available.
- If you are a disabled voter and you would like support to complete a ballot paper on your own, you can take a companion over the age of 18 to the polling station to assist you.
- The presiding officer at the polling station can help you fill in your ballot paper.
Easy Read Guides
To help overcome concerns and anxieties about what voting at the polling station will be like, easy ready guides are available for voters who want to know more about voting at the polling station:
British Sign Language videos on different aspects of voting - BSL Videos
Other Ways of Voting
If you don't want to go to the polling station to vote, you can vote by post, and voters with a disability can have a permanent proxy vote. For further information visit:
Polling Station Experiences
Charlotte, Hugh and Harry share their experiences of voting.
Charlotte and Hugh
Charlotte has a learning disability and talks about her experience of voting for the first time and the support she received from polling station staff who explained the voting process to her.
Hugh is visually impaired and works for RNIB. Hugh talks about the use of the Tactile Voting Device (TVD), secrecy of his ballot and the use of the large print ballot paper.
Watch a video about Charlotte's experience
Watch a video about Hugh's experience
Harry
Harry works for MENCAP and has a learning disability. Harry talks about the support he received voting for the first time. Harry also suggests someone at the polling station should wear an 'Accessibility' badge, so that voters know who they can ask for support.
Watch a video about Harry's experiences
Voting Passport
A voting passport is a A4 sheet of paper to hand to polling staff so that they can easily understand the reasonable adjustments needed to enable someone to vote.
The voting passport also allows voters to write who they would like to receive support from.
On the back it contains information on the law to debunk the myth that a person can be prevented from voting on the grounds of a lack of mental capacity.
If a voting passport could help you to have your vote, then please download a copy of the voter passport below.
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