SCHEDULE 1THE MAYORAL ELECTIONS RULES
PART IVCONTESTED ELECTIONS
Equipment of polling stations25
1
The returning officer shall provide each presiding officer with such number of ballot boxes and such ballot papers as in the returning officer’s opinion may be necessary.
2
Every ballot box shall be so constructed that the ballot papers can be put in it, but cannot be withdrawn from it, without the box being unlocked or, where the box has no lock, the seal being broken.
3
The returning officer shall provide each polling station with—
a
materials to enable voters to mark the ballot papers;
b
instruments for stamping on them the official mark;
c
copies of the register of electors, or such part of it as contains the names of the electors allotted to the station;
d
the parts of any special lists prepared for the election corresponding to the register of electors or the part of it provided under sub-paragraph (c).
4
The returning officer shall also provide each polling station with—
a
at least one large version of the ballot paper which shall be displayed inside the polling station for the assistance of voters who are partially sighted; and
b
a device, of such description as is set out in paragraphs (5) to (10), for enabling voters who are blind or partially sighted to vote without any need for assistance from the presiding officer or any companion (within the meaning of rule 35(1).
5
The device referred to in paragraph (4)(b) must be capable of being attached firmly to a ballot paper and of being removed from it after use without damage to the paper.
6
On the right-hand side of the device there shall be tabs of equal size which satisfy the conditions in paragraphs (7) to (10).
7
The tabs shall be capable of being positioned on the ballot paper so that each one is above one of the spaces, to the right of the particulars of the candidates, on which the vote is to be marked (“the relevant space”).
8
Each tab shall be numbered so that, when the device is positioned over a ballot paper, the number of each tab corresponds to that of the candidate whose particulars are to the left of the relevant space covered by the tab in question.
9
Each number on the tab shall be in raised form so that it can be clearly identified by touch.
10
Each tab shall be capable of being lifted so as to reveal the relevant space and so that there is sufficient room to allow a voter to mark a cross on that space.
11
Notices in the appropriate forms, for the guidance of voters, shall be exhibited—
a
inside and outside every polling station, and
b
in every compartment of every polling station.