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Local elections 2022: Why do you vote with a pencil?
05.05.2022 - 09:27 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Voters across England will be casting their votes in the local elections today. Some 200 local authorities have been preparing for the big day, while hundreds of hopefuls are eager to gain seats in Greater Manchester.
But why are polling stations traditionally stocked with pencils instead of pens? Pencils, usually attached to a string inside the polling booth, have always been supplied in polling stations for local elections, general elections and referenda.
But the Electoral Commission (EC) was forced to explain why when the issue was raised by a concerned voter. Kenneth Priestly wrote to the commission to say: "It has come to my attention that pencils have been used in poling stations, the mark is erasable. Given this could give arise to fraud why don't you use and supply black pens."
Read more: Local elections 2022: Find the candidates standing in your area in May
And during the general election campaign in 2017, social media was flooded with warnings that pencil marks could be rubbed out leading to concerns over voting fraud. The EC's response stated that the use of a pen or pencil when completing the ballot paper is not specified in legislation, but "in the UK, pencils are traditionally used for the purposes of marking ballot papers and are made available inside polling stations for voters to use."
It argued that the use of pencils does not itself increase the likelihood of electoral fraud, adding that: "while pencil marks can be rubbed out, similarly, pen marks can be crossed out." There are also practical reasons pencils are supplied, including that they won't run out of ink, they're cheaper than pens and they are less likely to cause smudges which could render a ballot paper spoiled.
The commission added that the
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