Further information for disabled voters
Polling stations
- All polling stations are accessible.
- Some polling stations may have temporary ramps to assist with entering and leaving the building.
- Parking and disabled parking may be provided if it is available at the polling station.
- Some polling stations may have a bell that you need to use to enter the building.
Signage
- All polling stations have a large Polling Station sign attached outside.
- Additional signage may also be used to provide clear directions outside and / or inside the building.
Polling station staff
- Polling station staff will be wearing name badges showing their name or role.
- If you have any questions or need any help, please ask a member of polling station staff. They can help with questions about voter id and voting.
Polling station equipment
The following equipment will be provided in your polling station:
- Polling booths to allow you to cast your vote in secret, including a polling booth which is accessible to wheelchair users.
- A screen if you want to show your photographic voter ID in private.
- Appropriate / additional lighting.
- A seat for your use if needed.
- Pencils including large chunky pencils and those with pencil grips for you to mark your ballot paper.
- You can bring you own pencil or pen if you would prefer.
- Magnifiers of different strengths to increase the size of text on the ballot paper.
Assistance with voting
- A large sample copy of the ballot paper will be displayed in your polling station and a sample hand held copy will be available for you to take into the polling booth to use if needed.
- A braille copy of the ballot paper will be available.
- A tactile voting device to assist visually impaired voters to mark their vote on a ballot paper will be available.
- An audible ballot paper is available for the September 2023 Brooklands by-election. It can be accessed before polling day and via your own device in a polling station.
- You may use any specialist devices or Apps in the polling station that assist you to cast your vote independently. For example, speech apps, video magnifiers.
- You may take your assistance animal with you into the polling station.
- You can also ask the Presiding Officer for assistance, if needed. This includes asking the Presiding Officer to mark the ballot paper for you. The Presiding Officer will need to complete a form to record they have assisted you to vote.
- You may bring a companion with you to help you cast your vote. The companion must be aged 18 or over (but the companion does not need to be registered to vote). A companion can only assist up to two people at the same local election. The Presiding Officer will need to complete a form where a companion assists a disabled voter, and the companion must sign a simple declaration.
Poll cards
Information provided on the poll card is also available on the elections homepage.
Requesting additional support
- If you are a disabled voter and require additional support which is not listed, you can contact the Elections Team to see if they can help. It may be possible to provide other equipment, for example, a hearing loop on request.
- It is also possible to request your Poll card in large print or another format if required.
Please contact us either via email esu@manchester.gov.uk or via phone on 0161 234 1212 to request any additional support
Information available in other languages in the Polling Station
- In polling stations the following legal notices will be available in the following languages, as well as English.
- How to Vote at this election (this includes a pictorial guide).
- A Notice containing the accepted forms of photographic ID that a voter needs to produce.
- Notice on how to mark the ballot paper at this election
Languages available:
- Arabic
- Bengali
- Bulgarian
- Cantonese
- Czech
- Farsi
- French
- Hebrew
- Kurdish
- Mandarin
- Pashto
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Punjabi
- Romanian
- Slovak
- Somali
- Spanish
- Tigrinya
- Urdu
- Yiddish
BSL Interpretation will also be available in Polling Stations and can be accessed via the how to use the signing service page or by asking the Polling Station staff for assistance with accessing this service. The BSL Interpretation service will be available on 4 May 2023 from 7am until 10pm.