h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've no idea where my polling station will be, and it just occured to me that knowing this will be a pretty ipmortant thing to know for tomorrow if I am to vote Is there a website that would show where they are location near me? ,

Hi 2legs

left it a bit late haven't you?

Suggest you telephone the local Town Hall, Electoral Office - they will tell you.
By the way, not everything happens on the net !

Have you had polling cards delivered to your house? If so, see if they mention where your polling station is. Mine does, but the regulations & procedure in Northern Ireland are often slightly different about things like this.

'left it a bit late' Well I was pressuming that amongst the small amazonian forest of c**p mail from the parties we've been getting every day we would at some point have something which had something useful on it such as where the polling station was As for not being able to find out everything from the web; this would have seemed an obvious thing to me for the government to have put on the web; a site with a search facility based on your post code to find the nearest polling station.... Anyhow; I'm an apathetic voter so I reserve teh right to leave it all to the last minute

It's generally somewhere like a primary school. You could just wander along to your local school and see, although hanging around schools isn't to be encouraged in this day and age.

yeh, I got in trubble last time I hanged about the school gate offering the children the chance to 'come and pet my badger' Well there is a school up this road, but I think it probably won't be that one I'll give the people a ring and see what they've got to say

The polling station I have to go to is the local library, a good quarter of a mile walk.

However, the nearest polling station is a temporary cabin they set up on the corner of the East Lancs and Ellenbrook road, just 100 yards away. Go figure.

That would be a ward boundary between you and said polling station 100 yards away.

2Legs, the address of your polling station is on your polling card. It looks like a postcard, but without the pretty picture of Eastbourne pier on the front

Polling card..... I think we had some of them come through Last election I got three polling cards, one at my Fathers, one at my halls of residence in Mancehster, and one in Cambridge

Yes, your polling card. If you're on the electoral roll, you'll always get a polling card.

You are *on* the electoral roll aren't you?

'you are on the electial role arn't you' no idea whatsoever. I've always recieved the pollin cards in the past

The forms for the electoral roll are sent out in October (or there abouts). One form goes to each household that was on the electoral roll from the last time around. You either sign the detailsas correct, or if you're new to the house / been new people come and go / whatever, you mark those changes on the form, sign it and send it back.

Is any of this sounding familiar to you?

I doubt G D
Novo

Ahh, yes they do sound famuliar: I recal now, cause we had them for loads of people only some of which were addressed to this house (I am getting the sneaking suspescion that our house is located on the way home for our posty, and if he can't be f****d to do his job, which seems most days, we get whatever post he has left in his bag, which has the advantage we sometimes get a free copy of private eye though )

*shakes head at GreyDesk* No, no, one form goes to every property known to the electoral registrations department, even if no electors are currently listed as living there. And you should always, always check that you are on the electoral register when it is published on 1 December. We're not perfect.

Mol

Well I was on it.
I went along at about 1 PM, without my polling card, which I didn't need, just wanted my name and address; slightly supprized that they didn't want any ID. and oh, yeh, I did* find the location of my polling station online; on the local council websites; one side of my road was one polling station, and the other was another

Well, I did need ID since I was voting in Northern Ireland, but although the guy give my ID a good long browse, he didn't even look at my face - it could have been Santa Claus handing him the passport for all he knew.

Didn't think Santa Claus was allowed to vote, surely he isn't a British Citizen?

Seems no one gives a stuff anmore, you can vote just about as many times as you want if you create enough faulse IDs for yourself

2legs! It's not people not giving a stuff - ID is simply not required when you go to vote. You are expected to declare your identity, and the staff at (English) polling stations have no right to demand any ID at all, whether you have your poll card or not.

"you can vote just about as many times as you want" - yes, if you want to commit the crime of personation. That's always been the case. And as long as 38% of the electorate can't be bothered to turn up to vote, it's going to be a fairly easy crime to commit undetected. Provided, of course, that one goes to lots of different polling stations to do it, otherwise the polling station staff are likely to spot what's going on; and provided that the person who has been impersonated doesn't turn up later on to cast their vote, thus prompting inquiries and investigations etc etc.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but it really isn't as easy as people seem to think - especially at a polling station.

Mol - a bit grumpy cos the county council count took 5 hours instead of 2.