THREAD You may not be able to drink inside a pub just yet, but might vote in one today - over 100 are polling stations. Working alongside @democlub we’ve had a look at the numbers (30,000ish) and types of building (so many!) hosting ballot boxes today #LE2021 #Senedd2021 #SP21

Electors will cast votes in museums, hair salons and even two carpet shops.

Many polling stations have moved due to the pandemic, but electors can check where theirs is by using @ElectoralCommUK polling station finder, created with @democlub https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter 

Among the usual village halls, schools and libraries votes will be served up in over 50 restaurants and cafes, on display at 30 museums and electors will exercise their vote at over 120 cricket clubs and pavilions, 100 football clubs and even 13 boxing clubs.

There’s even a polling station at a dog training centre in @LBofHavering - so #DogsAtPollingStations squared (Belle approves)

Our @AEA_ChiefExec Peter Stanyon says: “This has been a much tougher year than normal to find and book polling stations, because so many community buildings are understandably being used to get people tested for, and vaccinated against, Covid-19.”

“Many people may well be voting in different places than they’re used to, including some really unusual locations, and there’ll be around 600 temporary polling stations set up on places like car parks and community spaces.

“Council electoral administrators have worked their socks off for months to make sure polling stations run just as they always do. Everything will look a little different due to socially distanced queuing and other Covid- safety measures but the process will be exactly the same.”

And @democlub CEO @symroe says: “We're grateful to local authorities and @ElectoralCommUK for helping us collect a record-breaking amount of data for our polling station finder, helping millions answer one of the most commonly asked questions on polling day: "where do I vote?".

“Voters expect polling station information to be easily accessible online and in a format which they can understand, but councils often do not have the resources to do this. Indeed, many voters are even unsure which council they need to contact.

Our polling station finder https://wheredoivote.co.uk  gives voters the information they need, while helping reduce the load on council electoral services. We hope to be able build on this year's success to deliver a UK wide polling station finder for every election in future.”

You can read more, including some excellent stats, about the types and number of polling stations in this @democlub blog: https://democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2021/05/05/35500-polling-stations/ A great read this #LE2021 #Senedd2021 #SP21 morning