Elections

This review has now finished. The information below is maintained for archive purposes.

> See the results of the polling districts, polling places and polling stations review

Review of polling districts, polling places and polling stations

Introduction

The council is required by law to carry out a review of polling districts, polling places and polling stations by 31 December 2007. We hope that anyone who wishes to make representations about polling districts and polling stations will find it useful.

Legal requirements

Polling districts

South Tyneside Council, like other metropolitan boroughs, must divide its area into polling districts for parliamentary elections for so much of any constituency as is situated in its area.  It must also keep the polling districts under review.  The same polling districts are normally used for European Parliamentary elections.

The parliamentary constituencies situated wholly or partly within the council’s area are:

  • South Shields
  • Jarrow (part)

For local elections, the council may divide its wards into polling districts, and in practice does so.  Polling districts for local government elections should reflect as closely as possible those used for parliamentary elections.

Polling places

The council must designate a polling place for every polling district in the constituency. The polling place is the geographical area in which the polling station is located (for example, a polling place could be a school building, while the polling station is the actual room within which voting takes place).

Polling stations

The returning officer for the election in question must provide a sufficient number of polling stations, and allot the electors to polling stations in such a way as he/she thinks most convenient. The polling station must be within the designated polling place.

In practice, there is a close link between polling districts, polling places and polling stations. As there is little point in designating polling districts that have no suitable polling places, the availability of a suitable polling place will be an important factor in considering the designation of polling districts.

The review

The Electoral Administration Act 2006 made important changes to the way in which review of polling districts and polling places must be undertaken.

The Act requires every council to carry out a review of the polling districts and polling places in its area and complete it by 31 December 2007.  Subsequent reviews must then be carried out every four years thereafter.

The review process is laid down by law and can be summarised as follows:

  • The council must publish notice of the review
  • The council must consult the Returning Officer for every parliamentary constituency in its area. It must also consult people with expertise in relation to access to premises or facilities for persons with different forms of disability
  • Any elector in the council’s area may make representations
  • The council considers all representations received and reaches final decisions on the designation of polling districts and polling places
  • The council publishes its decisions, with reasons, plus all prescribed information (copies of correspondence, representations, minutes of meetings etc).

In carrying out the review, the council must:

  • Seek to ensure that all the electors in the constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances
  • Seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable, polling places are accessible to all electors, including those who are disabled. When considering the designation of a polling place, the council 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 the district unless special circumstances make it desirable to designate an area outside of the polling district.

Timetable for the review

The council is seeking representations by Friday 10 August.  It will then publish the representations of the returning officer and seek comments on those representations from people with disability expertise.

During September and October the council will consider all representations received and final proposals will be prepared.  It is intended that these proposals will be agreed at the council meeting on 22 November.

Accessibility

The council’s building surveyor, with special responsibility for the Disability Discrimination Act will be asked to advise on the accessibility needs of disabled persons in relation to the designation of polling places.

How to have your say

South Tyneside Council welcomes all representations.  Please send your representations by Friday 10 August to:

Election Team
Democratic Services
Town Hall
Westoe Road
South Shields
NE33 2RL

If you need any more information, please telephone the Election Team on (0191) 424 7230.

Please note that the council cannot guarantee that representations will be treated in confidence as it is required to publish all representations made in connection with the review.