1 week Ago
All together the county will be served by 359 polling stations, staffed by 1,000 Wiltshire Council employees and paid volunteers. They will be open between 7am and 10pm. But there will be no overnight vote counting.
Instead, the tally will take place at County Hall in Trowbridge, The Olympiad in Chippenham, and Five Rivers leisure centre in Salisbury on Friday, May 2. Electors' polling stations will be listed on their polling cards, but for those who have mislaid this document, the website https://wheredoivote.co.
uk will tell residents their polling station based on their postcode. Voters do not have to take their polling card to exercise their democratic right – although it does speed things up. However, a form of photo ID is mandatory.
Recommended reading A photo driving licence or UK passport will suffice, but a full list of acceptable forms of ID can be found at https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need .
Ballot boxes will be placed at village halls up and down the county - but some residents will be visiting more unusual polling stations. In the shadow of Old Wardour Castle in the far south of the county is Ansty PYO & Farm Shop, a family-run Pick Your Own fruit farm with tea room. Strawberries and raspberries make it a popular visitor destination in the summer months, and in the autumn excited children choose a Hallowe'en pumpkin.
But every election day, the farm hosts a different kind of PYO - Pick Your Own Politician - when the tea room becomes the official polling station for the villages of Ansty and Swallowcliffe. Owner Karren Price opens up for election officials at 6am, ready for the arrival of voters at 7. The doors remain open until 10pm.
"People say it's a long day, but it's pretty normal for farmers," says Karren. Apart from the influx of voters – who are welcomed by the smell of baking bread - it's business as usual. The tea room has a separate entrance and the tables are cleared to make way for polling booths.
Hot drinks are served outside. "People come to vote and stay for a cup of tea and a chat," says Karren. "It's very social.
" Other quirky polling stations include The Poplars Inn at Wingfield near Trowbridge - an 18th century pub with its own cricket pitch - and The Red Lion at Heytesbury near Warminster. Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, home to an archive of 800 years' worth of documents relating to the county, will also become a polling station..
