How Voting and Elections in the UK work
Why is Voting Important?
People with a learning disability have as much right to vote as anyone else.
To be able to vote you must register to vote.
When you vote in a general election you vote for someone to locally represent you in the house of commons. This person is called a Member of Parliament (MP)
They make important decisions that can affect people’s lives and by taking part in voting it is the best way for you to support who will represent your views in parliament and bring up issues that you care about. It is one of the chances to have a voice over how the country is run.
Voting enables you to help decide who represents your local area in parliament. MP’s aren’t just responsible for national policy. It’s also their job to raise local issues and support you as much as they can. You can go to them and ask for advice on certain issues or ask them to promote an issue in parliament.
Register to Vote
It is important that you register to vote. If you are not registered to vote you won’t be able to vote in an election.
People living in England can register to vote online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
The government has an easy read guide to how to register on their website, for this guide click here.
There are different ways you can vote, you can choose which one works for you:
- At the polling station. You will get a poll card before an election. It tells you where to go on election day to be able to vote.
- By Post. If you want to vote by post you will need to fill in a form asking for a postal vote and send it back to Enfield Council. You can find the form and where to return it, by clicking here.
- By Proxy. This means someone else votes for you. You need to meet certain criteria and fill in a form, all can be found on Enfield Council’s website here.
