Voting if you have a disability

Everyone should be able to vote without facing barriers. We want to make sure you feel supported when casting your vote.

We offer a range of support to disabled voters, including voters with a learning disability. Most of our polling stations are wheelchair accessible and we provide ramps where needed, we also provide:

• Polling station staff badges - All polling station staff are provided with either a 'Presiding Officer' or a 'Poll clerk' badge to wear in the polling station. This enables voters to easily identify the staff working at the station and approach them for assistance.
• Soft grip pencils - Our polling station staff can provide you with a soft grip pencil upon request. The pencils provided in the polling stations have soft grip adapters. This is to aid any voters with dexterity impairments to have the ability to easily hold the pencils and vote independently.
• Large print ballot paper - There is access to Large Print Ballot Papers inside the polling stations. This will help assist voters who are partially sighted and also voters who would like some time to look at the ballot paper before entering the booth.
• Magnifiers - Our polling station staff can provide you with a magnifier upon request. This will provide support to voters who are visually impaired and work by increasing the size of the text to become easier to read.
• Tactile voting device - Our polling station staff can provide you with a tactile voting device upon request. Tactile voting devices are used to allow the voter to mark their vote on the ballot paper independently. Assistance will still be required in order to confirm the position of the candidate on the ballot paper they wish to vote for.
• Wheelchair accessible booth - Our polling booths have wheelchair accessible polling booths for voters to safely vote in private.

If you are a disabled voter and need support to complete a ballot paper, you can take either a:

• carer
• friend
• relative

They do not have to be eligible to vote and will not need to bring their photo ID. However, they will need to be over 18 years old.

The Presiding officer at the polling station can also help you fill in your ballot paper.

If you don't want to go to the polling station to vote, you can:

• vote by post: apply here
• vote by proxy (asking someone to vote on your behalf): apply here

Guides for voters with a learning disability

You can view easy read guides about:

• What your vote does
• Your rights
• Registering to vote
• How to register to vote
• Voter ID and how to apply for the voter ID certificate
• How to vote in person
• How to register for postal voting
• How to register for proxy voting

Guides for voters who are partially sighted, blind or deaf

You can view British Sign Language (BSL) videos about:

• how to register to vote
• which forms of ID you can use to vote
• applying for a Voter Authority Certificate
• what will happen at the polling station

Have your say!

If you have any needs or requirements for voting at a polling station or have any feedback on how we can improve accessibility, please contact us on elections@stratford-dc.gov.uk.