‘POLLING STATION’ DEMOLISHED

A SOMERSET woman faced a challenge trying to vote on Thursday - as her polling station was demolished three years ago.

Jessica, from Yeovil, was told by the Electoral Commission website and staff at Somerset Council that she needed to go to Monmouth Hall on St John’s Road to cast her vote for Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner election – but the building was demolished in 2021.

She didn’t receive a poll card in the post, which should have listed her polling station.

After checking the Electoral Commission website, Jessica said: “I phoned the council to confirm that I was in fact registered to vote as I had not received my polling card and to check where I am meant to vote as I should be registered. They confirmed that I was registered and that my polling station was the demolished building. I reminded them that the building had been demolished in 2021 so it wasn’t my polling station to which they couldn’t answer my question of where I had to go instead and passed me on to another employee at the council. The other employee at the council told me that my polling station was the demolished building and then – even though I told them I hadn’t received my polling card – that it would be listed on the card.”

She was then told she could vote at either one of two nearby polling stations, and after turning up to one of them, poll clerks told her she was on the list and it was the location she should vote at in future.

A council spokesperson said: “We’d like to apologise for any confusion about the location of this polling station. We believe some information was not updated after a number of polling stations were changed due to non-availability and capacity.”