At a Polling Place
Voting at your local polling place is easy.
There is always a member of staff on hand to help if you're not sure what to do.
If you're on the Register of Electors, you will receive a poll card before the election telling you where your polling place is and when you can vote.
- Your polling place will probably be a school or hall near where you live
- It will be open between 7am and 10pm
- You can bring your poll card with you but it’s not necessary in order to vote
Assistance to Vote
If you think you'll have difficulty in getting to the polling place, or with the voting process when you arrive at the polling place, then contact your council. A helpline number will be printed on your poll card.
Alternatively, you could apply for a postal vote or proxy vote.
When You Arrive
- Follow the signs into the polling place
- Tell the staff your name and address so they can check you're on the Register of Electors
- You can show them your poll card too if you've got it with you
- They'll give you a ballot paper listing all the parties and candidates you can vote for
- You will be given ballot papers for the Scottish Parliament and Local Government elections
Casting Your Vote
- The staff will point you towards the polling booths where you can vote without anyone seeing
- If you have a visual impairment you can ask for a special voting device to vote by yourself, or you can ask for assistance from the polling staff
- Take your ballot papers into one of the polling booths and follow the instructions
- You don't need to bring a pen or pencil – there will be a pen in the booth
- For the Scottish Parliament election you will be asked to mark a cross (X) in the box next to the Constituency candidate of your choice and a cross (X) in the box next to the Regional list party or individual candidate of your choice
- On the Local Government ballot paper you will be asked to mark numbers (1, 2, 3 etc) against the candidates' names
- Make sure you don't write anything else on your ballot paper or your vote may not be counted
- You can take as much time as you like – there's no need to hurry
- When you're satisfied, put the ballot papers in the ballot boxes. Do NOT fold the ballot papers
You don't have to show anyone who you have voted for.
However, you may have to show the polling clerk the back of your ballot paper before putting it in the box.
Scotland: poll position
The Electoral Commission has launched a research study looking at
attitudes towards the Scottish Parliament, Local Government and
knowledge of electoral systems. Download the report below.
Scotland: poll position – research report 2006 (PDF 3,297Kb)
Not sure what happens when you go to vote?
Take a look at our short animated movie so you know exactly what to expect when you go to vote on 3rd May.