Frequently Asked Questions

Can you bring your own pen/pencil to the polling station?

Pencils are provided inside the polling stations, but you can choose to bring your own pen/pencil to cast your vote.

There is no legal requirement for ballot papers to be marked with a pencil.

Pencils are used for practical reasons.

With ink pens there is always a risk that ink may cause some transfer of the mark on the ballot paper when it is folded, potentially leading to the vote being rejected, for example, it looks like they have voted for more candidates than they are entitled to.