If you have registered to vote, you’ll know when an election is coming up because you’ll receive a Poll Card a few weeks before. This will tell you where to find your local polling station - often a local school or church hall.
In most of the UK, for a General Election, you just turn up on Election Day and give your name and address to the member of staff. They’ll check your details against the voting register and then they’ll give you your ballot paper, listing the candidates you can vote for and their parties.
In Northern Ireland you will have to produce photographic identification before you can vote. You’ll find full details at www.eoni.org.uk, or by contacting the Electoral Office on 0800 4320 712, or by textphone on 0800 3284 502.
Once you have the ballot paper you will need to go to a polling booth and mark your choice with an ‘X’. Then fold your ballot paper and pop it into one of the ballot boxes.
The procedures are different for different elections and in different parts of the country. For example, at some elections you will be able to vote for as many candidates as you want. All your votes will count in working out who has been elected.
Sometimes, more than one election will be held at the same time, in which case you will be given separate ballot papers. If you’re confused, don’t worry, the staff at the polling station will be happy to help – it’s part of their job.
That’s it – you’ve done it – you’ve cast your vote and made sure your voice is heard. So simple really and yet it can make a real difference. All that remains is to wait for the results, which will be announced where the count takes place, often your local town hall, and usually in the early hours or the following day.
The best place to watch is on TV where special programmes will show you the results nationwide. There will also be lots of websites covering the election that you may prefer to check instead.