Odd Locations / Buildings / Vehicles for Polling Stations

[transportphoto]

It must be very cold in those polling stations where they have to 'turn left at the land-rover and the polling stations in the caravan in front of you' or even worse 'locate the Community Bus on XX Road' & in those places which are hard to keep the heat in but have to keep the door open (due to the electronics & the ramp out on the bus for example) !

I have also heard of metal containers on a street corner...

Are there anymore examples?

EDIT - Just found this...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8665633.stm

 

[Dai.]

Somewhere had a hair salon and Abertillery in Wales had a local bus parked in the street!

 

[Ascot]

There's portable huts which have a porta-loo and basic electrical for kettles, water coolers etc.. There's churches, schools and any sort of council building like swimming baths or libraries. Worst comes to worst like a lockout or fire then a back of the Presiding Officers car will do more than wonders. (apart from when you have 20 uni students walk out of the pub at 21:55 with no idea of their address) It's far too expensive to use non council buildings!

All polling station staff are prepared and briefed for working in cold/hot conditions so don't feel sorry!

 

[Greenback]

I've never been anywhere interesting to vote. My polling station shave always been either a school, a community centre or a church/chapel hall.

 

[142094]

Thinking about the amount of schools which are closed on election day, and the amount of money lost by giving teachers/staff another day's holiday, why not just hire out a few thousand portacabins and use them? Wonder if anyone has thought of that.

 

[Ascot]

Thinking about the amount of schools which are closed on election day, and the amount of money lost by giving teachers/staff another day's holiday, why not just hire out a few thousand portacabins and use them? Wonder if anyone has thought of that.

Lots have thought of that. The cost doesn't justify giving a few teachers a public service day. Call it a teacher training day. Where are you going to put all these porta-cabins? The huts cost a lot, you have to find somewhere in a built up area to put them, then you have to move them into place and pay someone to move them, then you have the risk of them not turning up, then you have the heating and toilet facilities, then you have to move them back. Councils would do everything they could to try and not use a hut but unfortunately it just works out they have to. Birmingham is lucky due to the amount of schools and council facilities and no doubt others are. Hope that explains it a bit better.

 

[yorksrob]

We've got a porta-cabin in a pub car park in Leeds. We were told that there was an arrangement with the Pub for polling staff to use it's "washroom" facilities

The one I worked in was a side room in a working mens club.

 

[me123]

My polling place was my old primary school. I left in P6, so going back aged 18 was a real shock to the system! Nowhere interesting here - all schools and a couple of churches.

Personally, I don't think they should be using schools for elections. The entire school closes so that two rooms can be used as polling places. Interestingly, not every primary school is used. But what is perverse is that there is a community centre down the road which is not used as a polling place. By using community centres and churches, they could easily keep schools open and save people having to take a day off work at short notice every time there's an election.

 

[142094]

Lots have thought of that. The cost doesn't justify giving a few teachers a public service day. Call it a teacher training day. Where are you going to put all these porta-cabins? The huts cost a lot, you have to find somewhere in a built up area to put them, then you have to move them into place and pay someone to move them, then you have the risk of them not turning up, then you have the heating and toilet facilities, then you have to move them back. Councils would do everything they could to try and not use a hut but unfortunately it just works out they have to. Birmingham is lucky due to the amount of schools and council facilities and no doubt others are. Hope that explains it a bit better.

Either that or give everyone a postal vote. That would save a few bob. And wouldn't require a hut.

 

[Ascot]

Either that or give everyone a postal vote. That would save a few bob. And wouldn't require a hut.

Even worse! Half won't be delivered to them, half will fill them in wrong, half will not be able to send them back in time, half will get lost in the post and it'll cost more to pay for postage since it's all first class! I'm not even going to go there!

 

[me123]

Not to mention an increased potential for voting fraud.

 

[Mojo]

I hope whoever gets in power next will abolish postal voting except for having a really good reason. It seems just too open to fraud.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It said on the BBC election night broadcast that they had discovered 900 postal votes had gone missing in one specific constituency ( I think it was in the York area??? ); not as in "lost in the post" but as in "mislaid between receipt and election night counting".

 

[Broken Viking]

Oh...And there was me thinking that my postal vote (Taken because I was out of area on polling day) was as secure as one in person! :eek:

That said: They've taken some good measures to avoid fraud in the postal ballot (Postal voting statements, journaled issue etc) but that said - Having cast my first ever postal vote last week - I do not like the fact that my ballot paper has a serial number which is also recorded on my PV statement along with my name, address and electoral roll number! hock:
And from what I can remember of past ballots: It's exactly the same in polling stations too...Every ballot cast can be traced back to the voter who cast it!

So much for the "Secret" and "Confidential" nature of the electoral ballot... :roll:

 

[Geezertronic]

Oh...And there was me thinking that my postal vote (Taken because I was out of area on polling day) was as secure as one in person! :eek:

That said: They've taken some good measures to avoid fraud in the postal ballot (Postal voting statements, journaled issue etc) but that said - Having cast my first ever postal vote last week - I do not like the fact that my ballot paper has a serial number which is also recorded on my PV statement along with my name, address and electoral roll number! hock:
And from what I can remember of past ballots: It's exactly the same in polling stations too...Every ballot cast can be traced back to the voter who cast it!

So much for the "Secret" and "Confidential" nature of the electoral ballot... :roll:

How would you tackle voting fraud then?