General Election 2019 - Tips and advice from hft

Is your relative registered to vote in the upcoming election? The deadline for registration to vote is 26th November 2019 . If they are not currently registered, please encourage them to do so, to ensure that their voice is heard on polling day ( 12th December 2019 ).

Hft’s Public Affairs and Policy Manager, Billy Davis, has provided the following important information about voting:

Registering to vote

A person can only vote if they register to vote ahead of time. Easy-Read guides to the registration process are available in English and Welsh on the Government’s website. The deadline for registration to vote is 26th November 2019 .

An easy read guide as to why politics matters, produced by United Response, can be downloaded here. Brandon Trust have also made a useful video guide called ‘What Is Politics’.

Before the election

Hft will be producing Easy Read summaries of the Election Manifestos, as well as a video resource explaining the key policies of the main three parties. Keep an eye on the website and Twitter channel for updates.

Dods Monitoring has also produced a handy ‘Lingo Guide’ for the jargon typically used around election time. This resource could be useful when supporting your relative.

Polling day

Voting day is 12th December . Should your relative wish to vote, information about where their local polling station is can be easily found on this website.

Adults with learning disabilities over the age of 18 have the same legal right to vote as anybody else. They are also entitled to reasonable adjustments at the polling station, such as having somebody support them in casting their vote.

Support can be provided in the following ways:

  1. By asking the Presiding Officer at the polling station (this is the person who is in charge) for help

OR

  1. By asking someone to come to the polling station and support them. This person must be either:

• a close family member (father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, civil partner, son or daughter - if they are aged 18 years or over)

OR

• a person who would be entitled to vote at the election. This can be a support worker.

If your relative wants someone to support them to vote, you should talk to the Presiding Officer at the polling station. The Presiding Officer will ask the supporter to sign a form saying that they will be supporting someone to vote.

A person may only support up to two voters at the same election. A supporter can help by reading out and explaining who they can vote for and a supporter can also mark their ballot paper for them, if requested.

Dimensions have produced a downloadable ‘Voting Passport’, which would allow an individual with learning disabilities to ensure that a Presiding Officer knows they have a learning disability, and what reasonable adjustments could be made for them.

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