Review of polling districts and places

West Northamptonshire Council has a statutory duty to undertake periodic reviews of polling districts and polling places. This is to ensure they have accessible and convenient facilities for voters.

We are now carrying out a review of polling districts and polling places that are used across West Northamptonshire.

Key terms

Polling district

A polling district is a geographical area which is used for election purposes only. All voters living in a certain polling district all go to the same building, called a polling place, to cast their votes.

Polling place

A polling place is a building or area in which polling stations will be located. As far as possible, these should be situated within the polling district for which they are designated.

In exceptional circumstances, the polling place may be designated outside the polling district.

Polling station

A polling station is a room or building where voting actually takes place. There can be more than one polling station in a polling place, which is common in many areas.

Wherever possible, there should be no more than 2500 electors allotted to a polling station.

Purpose of the review

The main purpose of the review is to help make sure polling places suit the needs of those coming to vote as far as is reasonable. This includes making sure polling places are accessible, and meet the needs of people with disabilities.

The review will also take account of new ward boundaries that come into effect for the local government and parish elections held on 1 May 2025.

We need to ensure the new wards are subdivided into smaller voting areas called polling districts, and that there is a polling station allocated to each of those polling districts.

Some polling districts, particularly in urban areas, may share a polling station with other polling districts.

Guidelines

The following considerations have been taken into account when allocating polling districts and polling places. Comments made during the consultation should be mindful of these.

The first two points are required by electoral law, and the rest are best practice:

the council must seek to ensure that all electors have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances
the council must seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place is accessible to electors who are disabled
ideally, the polling place should be in its own polling district
where possible, “natural” boundaries should be used, for example major roads, railways
all properties on a minor road or estate should ideally be in the same polling district
polling places should be logical. For example, electors should not have to pass another polling place to get to their own polling place

How to have your say

We are keen to hear your suggestions about new polling districts or to receive feedback on proposals for future arrangements. We also want to gather feedback about polling stations in order to ensure they are accessible for all electors.

We welcome comments on polling districts and polling places from:

residents
community groups
councillors
members of parliament
political parties
parish councils
polling station booking agent
current/former polling station staff
any individuals with disabilities or groups representing disabled people within West Northamptonshire

Please note that we are required to publish any representations made in the course of the review. You can submit comments via our online survey.

Paper copies or Easy Read versions of our survey can be supplied upon request.

Submit your comments

This survey closes at midnight on Friday 3 January 2025. Following the consultation, the responses will be considered by the Democracy and Standards Committee at its meeting on Thursday 23 January 2025.

The new register will be published on Saturday 1 February 2025.

What happens next

On completion of a review, we must give reasons for decisions in the review and publish such other information as is prescribed.