Sunderland election guide for drunks, monarchs, prisoners and dogs
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So with varying levels of usefulness:
Polling stations open between 7am and 10pm on election days. You can vote as long as you are in the queue before 10pm.
You now must take valid photo ID to the polling station, such as passport, driver's licence, bus pass or PASS card.
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Hide AdYou are not required to take your polling card with you to vote, but it might speed things up.
You can only vote at your designated polling station, as written on your polling card.
Photography and filming are banned in polling stations. The Electoral Commission says it compromises the secrecy of the ballot. You can face six months in prison or a fine up to £5,000 for revealing, even accidentally, how someone else has voted.
Disabled voters can be helped by polling station staff, or they can bring someone along to help, if the helper is over 18.
You can use your own pen or pencil, if you like. Gettin.
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Hide AdTelevisions and radios can't be switched on in polling stations, no matter how bored the staff get. Aw.
You can be drunk, but not disruptive in a polling station. However, you may regret your choice of candidate when you next wake up.
You can take children into the polling station, but they can't write your ‘X’.
Dogs may or may not be allowed in, depending on the local authority, except guide dogs who are always permitted.
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Hide AdContrary to popular belief, the monarch and other UK royals are allowed to vote. It's just that they don't.
Barred from voting are: anyone entitled to sit in the House of Lords, foreign nationals, patients detained under mental health legislation after criminal convictions, convicted prisoners and anyone convicted in the last five years of "corrupt" or "illegal election practices".
Barred from standing for parliament are peers retained in the House of Lords, undischarged bankrupts, convicted mental patients, anyone serving more than a year's imprisonment, police officers, judges, anyone guilty of corrupt election practices (with provisos).
Hope this helps.
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