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Not all polling stations are the same. Some make use of a community hall or church, while others are located at more unusual venues. Here is a selection of interesting polling stations via the newswires.
I’d love to hear from you about any unique, or just beautiful, polling station spots. As always, pictures (of the outside – don’t go breaking any rules) are very welcome and I can try to post a mix of them.
With about four hours to go until the polls close, more voters have been in touch to tell us about how election day has gone. And for some, today was an important milestone as it was the first time they were eligible to have their say in a general election.
Liv Skinner, 19, was one of those casting her first vote in a general election in North Devon this morning. “I’ve been excited to vote in a general election since I started becoming interested in politics in Year 10. I understand the importance of making sure my vote counts,” she said.
Skinner, who works as a barista and will study politics and philosophy at university this September, will also be assisting at the vote count tonight with a friend. “I’m really looking forward to it. I was planning to stay up and watch the results roll in anyway,” she said.
She has been preparing for the overnight count, which can go on until the wee hours. “We have to get there at 9:30pm, and then it can go on anytime until 6am. We went to shop and got loads of food and snacks, and I’m planning to have a nap soon!”
James Watts, 20, also voted for the first time in a general election, marking his ballot in the constituency of North Bedfordshire.
“I was happy to do it – I voted in local elections last year but was at university in Southampton this year and was upset to miss it. It felt good to vote in a general election – I was glad to participate, when before I was just watching.”
Watts, who is studying politics, said he felt “civic duty” to vote and planned to stay up to watch the results trickle in. “My mum and dad and I are in different areas but we plan to all be on a call tonight. We’ll probably mainly watch Channel 4, but also go back and forth between BBC, Sky and ITV. I’ll be staying up all night.”
And in south London, Maddie McVickers, 19, accompanied by Ruby the dog, 14, voted for the first time.
As Martin explained earlier, there’s not a whole lot that we can report on at the moment. So, while we wait, here is a reminder of a few useful general election 2024 pieces and explainers from the Guardian.
What constituency am I in?
The general election on 4 July will be fought across 650 new constituencies after boundary changes were approved by parliament.
You can use the tool in the below interactive to find your new constituency – and see what the notional results would be.
What photo ID do I need to vote in the 2024 UK general election?
For the first time in a UK general election people will need to produce photo ID at polling stations today to be able to vote in person.
You can find everything you need to know, including which forms of photo ID are accepted here:
What is tactical voting and how does it work?
This guide looks at what tactical voting involves and discusses what campaign group Best for Britain recommends.
What time will we know who won?
Want to catch a few results before bed, or see it through to the moment of reckoning? We’ve got you covered with this hour by hour guide to election night and into Friday morning.
If the pictures of dogs at polling stations is too much for you, then you might want to skip past this post.
If you’re still enjoying the canine content, then please enjoy this visual compilation that the Guardian video team have put together:
Voters arriving at a Glasgow polling station were met with posters listing the wrong instructions, reports the PA news agency.
According to the report, posters displayed at Notre Dame primary school told voters to rank candidates in order of preference. This is how ballots are cast in local elections in Scotland, which use the single transferable vote system, while general elections use the first-past-the-post system, which requires voters to put a single “X” next to their chosen candidate.
Glasgow city council said the error was spotted “very soon” after the polling station opened at 7am on Thursday and “after the first few voters”. A council spokesperson said the posters were replaced with the correct information.
The PA news agency reports that the council said no one had been disfranchised as voters’ first preferences would be used from the affected ballots.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have their own take on the ‘dogs at polling station’ pictures.
Over on X, the charity has been urging voters to share photographs of any feathered friends they spot near a polling station.
Good morning voters! 🗳️
— RSPB (@Natures_Voice) July 4, 2024
Spot a Sparrow on your way to the polls? Are the Woodpigeons cooing you on?
Tag us in your #BirdsAtPollingStations photos today, and let's get nature trending.
Bonus points for birds on signs! pic.twitter.com/x5vkYGnysr
The UK’s political parties are on track to spend more than a million pounds on online adverts on Thursday, circumventing a media blackout rule that forces television and radio stations to stop their election coverage when polls open.
British parties have traditionally ceased top-level campaign activity when voting began as they had no way to get out their message out. This is because of a longstanding broadcasting rule, enforced by the media regulator Ofcom, that states: “Discussion and analysis of election and referendum issues must finish when the poll opens.”
The switch to online campaigning over the past two decades has increasingly made a mockery of this rule, with early indications suggesting political parties are viewing Thursday as an incredibly important campaign day for pushing their core messages to wavering voters.
Sam Jeffers of WhoTargetsMe, which has monitored election advertising in the UK for the last decade, said substantial funds had been released for Thursday. “The parties are on track to spend a million pounds today on Meta and probably another £250,000 on Google,” he said.
If these figures are correct, it could mean that more money is spent by political parties buying online political advertising on polling day than was spent online during the entire 2015 general election campaign.
The Conservatives have been attempting to spur on support for the party by sending out emails saying turnout is much higher than expected.
“We’re getting reports from our teams on the ground. And the more reports we get, the more it looks like turnout is higher than expected,” according to messages sent out from the ‘CCHQ data team’ to those signed up on the party’s mailing list.
“That means we could have a MUCH better chance than polls have suggested. So if you haven’t voted yet, now’s the time to get out.”
The claim by the Tories that a higher turnout would benefit the party would be contested at this point.
Turnout was 67.3% at the last election in 2019, down from 68.8% during the previous one.
When Labour won in 1997, turnout was relatively high at 71.4%, although lower than the previous poll – 77.7% in 1992 – which was won by the Conservatives in what was a relative surprise to some.
Let’s step away from the canine contributions for a moment. As people cast their votes on Thursday, the opinion polls continue to predict that Keir Starmer’s Labour party will win the general election with one of the largest ever parliamentary majorities. Conversely, Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party is projected to suffer one of its worst ever losses.
The Guardian’s David Batty has looked at how this prediction of a dramatic Labour win compares with other landslide victories in British history.
While Martin Belam has now headed off for a well-earned rest, I (Amy) have taken over the duties of posting pictures of dogs (and other animals) at polling stations. Here’s a little selection that have come in via our readers.
Jodie has shared a picture of the “noble Bill O’Shea”, who I’m assured is a very good boy and has performed his civic duty in Greenwich today.
Duster the double doodle at Hackney town hall is “hungry for change”, says Oliver, who has sent in this lovely picture.
Jon, has shared a photograph of his white golden retriever, Ted, outside the Hive community centre in Dollar in the new Scottish constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar.
Justin has also got in touch via email with this delightful picture of his puppy, Oscar, going to the polling station today for the first time.
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