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Polling station

 
Polling Station

 
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Polling station
 
 
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A polling place or polling station (the latter is the less common usage, but favored in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and standard in Canada) is where voters cast their ballot
Ballot

A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secret ballot....
s in election
Election

An election is a decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern Representative democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional government and local government....
s.

Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as school
School

File:Primary Student of Pakistan.JPGA school , is an institution designed to allow and encourage students to education, under the supervision of teachers....
s, sports halls
Stadium

A modern stadium is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event....
 or local government office
Office

An office is generally a room or other area in which people employment, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty....
s, and will each serve a similar number of people.






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A polling place or polling station (the latter is the less common usage, but favored in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and standard in Canada) is where voters cast their ballot
Ballot

A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secret ballot....
s in election
Election

An election is a decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern Representative democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional government and local government....
s.

Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as school
School

File:Primary Student of Pakistan.JPGA school , is an institution designed to allow and encourage students to education, under the supervision of teachers....
s, sports halls
Stadium

A modern stadium is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event....
 or local government office
Office

An office is generally a room or other area in which people employment, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty....
s, and will each serve a similar number of people. The area may be known as a ward, precinct
Precinct

A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it....
, polling district or constituency
Constituency

A constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves....
. The polling place is staffed with officials (who may be called election judge
Election judge

In the United States of America an election judge is an official responsible for the proper and orderly voting in local precincts. Depending on the state, election judges may be identified as members of a political party or non-partisan....
s, returning officer
Returning Officer

In various parliamentary systems, a Returning Officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies....
s or other titles) who monitor the voting procedures and assist voters with the election process. Scrutineer
Scrutineer

A scrutineer is a person who observes voting in an election, and/or observes the counting of ballot papers, in order to check that election rules are followed....
s (or poll-watchers) are independent or partisan observers who attend the poll to ensure the impartiality of the process.

The facility will be open between specified hours depending upon the type of election, and political activity by or on behalf of those standing in the ballot is usually prohibited within the venue and immediately surrounding area.

Inside the polling place will be an area (usually a voting booth
Voting booth

A voting booth or polling booth is a room or cabin in a polling station where voters are able to cast their vote in private to protect the Secret ballot....
) where the voter may select the candidate or party of their choice in secret, and if a ballot paper is used this will be placed into a ballot box
Ballot box

A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually cuboid though sometimes a Tamper resistance bag, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period....
 in front of witnesses but who cannot see the actual selection made. Voting machine
Voting machine

Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information....
s may be employed instead.

Some polling places are temporary structures. A portable cabin may be specially sited for an election and removed afterwards.

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