Review of polling districts and polling stations

We are undertaking the five-yearly review of polling districts and polling stations. We welcome your views - please contact us at elections@oxford.gov.uk.

The consultation period will last until Monday 18 November 2024 and the revised scheme will come into force on 3 February 2025.

We have created the following guidance on the process.

Contents

• Introduction
• 1) What is the difference between a polling district, polling place and polling station?
• 2) Polling districts
  • who is responsible for designating polling districts?
  • what are the rules?
  • what is the Electoral Registration Officers responsibility?
• 3) Polling places
  • who is responsible for designating polling places?
  • what are the rules?
• 4) Polling Stations
  • who is responsible for designating polling stations?
  • what are the rules?
• 5) Review of polling districts and polling places
  • general background
  • first review
  • subsequent reviews
  • the review process
  • notice of the holding of a review
• 6) The Role of the Acting Returning Officer
• 7) Other representations
• 8) Evaluating the suitability of potential polling places
• 9) The 2024/25 review – new ward boundaries
• 10) Completion of the review
• 11) Appeals Process
  • who may make representation to the Electoral Commission?
  • review by the Electoral Commission
• 12) Non-compliance
• 13) Conclusion
• Appendix 1 – Table of current polling places plus Acting Returning Officer’s comments

Introduction

This page gives the background and detailed information on why and how the polling place review is to take place.

All authorities across England are legally required to carry out a review by February 2025.

The timetable for the review is below:

• Notice commencement of review - Friday 25 October 2024
• Distribution of booklet to consultees - Friday 25 October 2024
• End of consultation period - Monday 18 November 2024
• Report to Full Council - Monday  27 January 2025
• Publication of the new register - Monday 3 February 2025
• Publication of review result (subject to Council approval) - Thursday 30 January 2025

Contact and address for submissions:

Alison Bartlett
Electoral Services Officer
Law and Governance
Town Hall
St. Aldate’s
Oxford
OX1 1BX

And by email to: elections@oxford.gov.uk

Telephone: 01865 252987

Submissions may be sent by post or by email. All submissions will be published by the Council, both at the Town Hall and online on the Council’s website.

1) What is the difference between a polling district, a polling place and a polling station?

A polling district is a geographical sub-division of an electoral area, i.e. a UK Parliamentary constituency, a European Parliamentary electoral region, a ward or an electoral division.

A polling place is a geographical area in which a polling station is located. However, as there is no legal definition of what a polling place is the geographical area could be defined as tightly as a particular building or as widely as the entire polling district.

A polling station is the actual area where the process of voting takes place, and must be located within the polling place designated for the particular polling district. This in effect means the ballot box(es) allocated within a building. So a polling place may have several polling stations in it.

2) Polling districts

Who is responsible for designating polling districts?

Every council in the UK is responsible for dividing its area into polling districts for UK Parliamentary elections for so much of any constituency as is situated in its area, and for keeping the polling districts under review.

For European parliamentary elections, the same polling districts as designated for UK Parliamentary elections are to be used unless the Council considers that there are special circumstances that make alternative designations appropriate.

For local government elections, a local authority may divide its designated electoral areas (i.e. wards or electoral divisions) into polling districts.

Although there is no requirement to sub-divide local government electoral areas into polling districts, it is recognised good practice to do so. When doing so, every effort must be made to ensure that the polling district scheme for local government elections mirrors as closely as possible that agreed for parliamentary elections. In Oxford, both schemes are identical.

What are the rules?

When designating polling districts, relevant authorities must seek to ensure that all the electors in the constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances.

In addition, and unless there are special circumstances that lead the authority to determine otherwise, each parish in England and each community in Wales must be in a separate polling district.

What is the Electoral Registration Officer’s responsibility?

Where a council makes any alterations to the polling districts within its area, the Electoral Registration Officer must amend his or her register of electors accordingly.

The changes to the register take effect on the date that the Electoral Registration Officer publishes a notice stating that the adaptations have been made.

It is recommended that alterations to polling districts be timed to coincide with the annual revision of the register of electors on 1 December. This helps to avoid confusion both for electoral professionals and other recipients of the register.

However, there may be instances where alterations must be made at other times of the year. Due to the timing of the general election in 2024 it has been necessary to move the review to later in the year and consequently the publication of the new register will also move – to 3 February 2025.

3) Polling Places

Who is responsible for designating polling places?

Every council in the UK must designate a polling place for every polling district in the parliamentary constituency unless the size or other circumstances of the polling district are such that the situation of the polling station does not materially affect the convenience of the electorate.

The Council must also keep the polling places under review.

What are the rules?

Each council must:

1. seek to ensure that all the electors in the constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances;
2. seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable, the polling places it is responsible for are accessible to all electors, including those with disabilities, and when considering the designation of a polling place, must have regard to the accessibility needs of disabled persons.

In addition, the polling place for a polling district must be within the area of that district unless special circumstances make it desirable to designate an area either wholly or partly outside of the polling district.

The polling place must also be small enough to indicate to electors in different parts of the polling district how they will be able to reach their designated polling station.

Should a council fail to designate a polling place, the entire polling district will be classed as the polling place for that district. The Council is not proposing any such arrangements.

As in previous reviews, we propose that the Council designate the whole polling district as the polling place so as to give the Returning Officer maximum flexibility should the building used become unavailable for any reason.

4) Polling Stations

Who is responsible for designating polling stations?

The Returning Officer for the particular election must provide a sufficient number of polling stations and allocate the electors to those polling stations in such manner as he or she thinks the most convenient.

What are the rules?

Polling stations must be located within the polling places designated by the Council.

The election rules permit the Returning Officer to provide one or more polling stations (ballot box) within the same room, and must supply each with a sufficient number of voting compartments.

5) Review of polling districts and polling places

General background

Section 16 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (EA Act 2006) introduced a number of changes to the Representation of the People Act 1983 about how reviews of polling districts and polling places must be undertaken.  The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 introduced a change to the timing of compulsory reviews of UK Parliamentary polling districts and polling places.

First review

The EA Act 2006 required that every Council must undertake and complete a review of all of the polling districts and polling places in its area every five years. The last review was undertaken in 2019/20. The latest round of reviews must be completed by February 2025.

It is important to note that if it wishes to do so, the Council may undertake reviews of all or some of the designated polling districts and polling places at any time, but must undertake a review of each within the statutory timescales.

The review process

Schedule A1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 sets out the steps relevant authorities must follow in undertaking any review of polling districts and/or polling places.

Information available will include:

• electorate figures, broken down to street level (available on request);
• details of existing polling places, and an indication as to their overall suitability for the purpose;
• a projection of the likely developments which would impact on electorate numbers.

Notice of the holding of a review

The Council is required to publish notice of the holding of a review at the Town Hall and on the Council’s website.

6) The role of the Acting Returning Officer

The Council is required to consult the Acting Returning Officer for every parliamentary election held in a constituency that is wholly or partly within its area. This means the Acting Returning Officers for Oxford East and Oxford West & Abingdon constituencies.

A n Acting Returning Officer is required to make representations, which must include information as to the location of polling stations (both existing and proposed) within polling places (both existing and proposed).

Within thirty calendar days of their receipt, the Council will publish the Acting Returning Officer’s representations as a minimum:

• at the Council’s office;
• in one other conspicuous place in the area; and
• on the Council’s website

7) Other representations

In reviewing polling places, the Council is required to actively seek representations from such persons as it thinks have particular expertise in relation to:

• access to premises; or
• facilities for persons who have different forms of disability

Such persons must be given the opportunity to make representations and to comment on the representations made by the Acting Returning Officer.

A key factor the Council will have to consider at the outset of the review is the identification of those persons it feels has particular expertise in accessibility issues. We will use existing consultation lists to achieve this. A list of those people/organizations consulted will also be published.

In addition, any elector in a constituency may make representations on the designation of polling places to the Council.

Although not specifically provided for in the review rules, the Council will actively encourage representations from local constituency political parties.

Representations made by any person in connection with the review may include proposals for alternative polling places, which will then be considered by the Council.

8) Evaluating the suitability of potential polling places

Regardless of the expert advice the Council is required to seek, it is important that the accessibility needs of all voters are considered when designating polling places.

So, if a respondent is minded to suggest an alternative polling place the following should be considered:

The location of the polling place:

• is it located close to where most of the electors in the polling district live?
• is it at the top or bottom of a steep hill?
• does it have suitable access from a road?
• if there is a pavement, does it have a dropped kerb close by?
• are there any convenient public transport links?
• availability of parking
• are there adequate parking facilities close to the entrance of the building?
• If not, is there anywhere close by that could be used for parking just on polling day?
• how far do electors have to walk from the car park to the polling station?
• is there a designated disabled parking space, or could one be provided?
• is there a dropped kerb from the parking area to the polling station?

All approaches to the building:

• should have a hard, smooth, non slip surface, without steps, potholes, broken slabs, etc. – gravelled surfaces can present difficulties to wheelchair and buggy users;
• not have any severe gradients; and
• be well lit.

Entrance:

• does the building have a level entrance?
• are there any steps to the entrance of the building?
• are the stairs highlighted in any way?
• is there a handrail by the steps?
• is a permanent ramp provided?
• if not, could a temporary ramp with a suitable gradient be provided safely, or is there another entrance which people with disabilities or other electors could use?
• is the door wide enough for a wheelchair user to gain access?
• how heavy are the doors for a frail or elderly person to open? Would they need to be propped open?

Inside the building:

• are there any internal steps or barriers for electors to negotiate?
• are the door mats level with the floor? If not, can they be removed?
• are there any other trip hazards?
• is there a suitable non-slip floor covering? Would it become slippery when wet?
• are there any corridors which may be difficult to negotiate for any electors using wheelchairs or those who find walking difficult?
• in terms of the layout of polling equipment in the room to be used as a polling station, is there enough space in the room for staff, polling equipment and a number of electors, including a wheelchair user?
• is there adequate lighting in the room?
• is there any need for additional lighting?
• movable mats, heavy curtains trailing on the floor, a mix of carpet and wooden flooring with edging lips in between, and highly polished floors can all be potential hazards.

If the premises has any of these features, can anything be done to remove or improve them?

Another key factor to consider when assessing the suitability of a particular building or location is the facilities available to polling station staff.

It must not be overlooked that staff will be on duty for approximately sixteen hours, and not permitted to leave the premises. Their basic human needs must not be discounted.

Issues to consider include the provision of:

• adequate toilet facilities;
• a kitchen, or at a minimum, access to tea and coffee making facilities;
• adequate heating/cooling;
• a separate area adjacent to the polling station where breaks could potentially be taken;
• a telephone;
• comfortable adult chairs.

9) The 2024-25 review - new ward boundaries

This review is slightly different in that new county division boundaries will be introduced at the elections on 1 May 2025. Most of the polling places will still be used but we welcome any alternative suggestions so that we can consider them if any of the existing buildings don’t fit the new division scheme.

10) Completion of the review

On completion of a review, the Council is required to give reasons for its decisions in respect of the designation of both polling districts and polling places.

In addition, the Council must publish:

• all correspondence sent to an Acting Returning Officer in connection with the review, and
• all correspondence sent to any person whom the Council thinks has particular expertise in relation to access to premises or facilities for persons who have different forms of disability;
• all representations made by any person/organisation in connection with the review;
• the minutes of any meetings held by the Council where details of the review have been considered;
• details of the actual designations of polling districts and polling places agreed as a result of the review; and
• Details of where the results of the review have been published.

These will be placed on deposit at the Town Hall and on the Council’s website.

11) Appeals Process

Following the completion of the Council’s review certain persons have a right to make representations to the Electoral Commission.

The Electoral Commission has no role in the review process itself, although guidance has been issued to assist relevant authorities in the administration of the reviews. However, the Commission has an extremely important role in respect of considering representations and observations made that a Council has not conducted a review so as to:

• meet the reasonable requirements of the electors in the constituency, or a body of them (i.e. the reasonable requirements of a particular area of the authority have not been satisfactorily met); or
• take sufficient account of the accessibility for disabled persons of polling stations within a designated polling place.

Who may make representation to the Electoral Commission?

Section 18D (1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 sets out who may make representations to the Electoral Commission, namely:

• any parish council which is wholly or partly situated within the constituency;
• not less than thirty registered electors in the constituency (although electors registered anonymously cannot make such a representation);
• any person (except the Acting Returning Officer) who made representations to the authority when the review was being undertaken; and
• any person who is not an elector in a constituency in the authority’s area who the Commission feels has sufficient interest in the accessibility of disabled persons to polling places in the area or has particular expertise in relation to the access to premises or facilities of disabled persons.

In addition, the Returning Officer may make observations on any representations made to the Commission.

Review held by the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is required to consider any such representations and observations, and after doing so, may direct the Council to make any alterations it sees necessary to the polling places designated by the review.

Should an authority fail to make the alterations within two months of the direction being given, the Commission may make the alterations itself.

12) Non-compliance

It is important to note that the outcome of an election cannot be questioned simply because a Council, an Electoral Registration Officer, a Returning Officer or the Electoral Commission fails to comply with any or all aspects of a review process.

13) Conclusion

If you or your organisation has any comments on the polling districts or polling places they need to be made, either in writing or by e-mail by the close of the consultation period, Monday 11 November 2024. You should be aware that all representations received will be made public.

The Council will then consider the submissions and submit a scheme to Full Council on Monday 27 January 2024.

The approved scheme will take effect from a re-publication of the 2025 register, on 3 February 2025.

If you need any further information please contact Alison Bartlett, details in the Introduction section.

Appendix 1 - Table of current polling places plus Acting Returning Officer's comments