Polling place

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Part of the Politics series
Voting
Absentee ballot
Abstention
Ballot
Ballot box
Ballot stuffing
Caging
Coattail
Compulsory voting
Early voting
Election boycott
Election Day voter registration
Election ink
Electorate
Electoral fraud
Issue voting
None of the above
Paradox of voting
Passive electioneering
Polling place
Postal voting
Precinct
Preference vote
Protest vote
Provisional ballot
Refused ballot
Secret ballot
Spoilt vote
Slate
Straight-ticket voting
Tactical voting
Tally
Ticket
Vote center
Vote pairing
Voter apathy
Voter fatigue
Voter registration
Voter suppression
Voter turnout
Voting booth
Voting machine
Politics portal
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A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.
Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or
longer, polling places are usually located in facilities used for other purposes, such
as schools, churches, sports halls, local government offices, or even private homes, and may each
serve a similar number of people. The area may be known as a ward, precinct, polling district
or constituency. The polling place is staffed by officials (who may be called election judges, returning
officers or other titles) who monitor the voting procedures and assist voters with the election
process. Scrutineers (or poll-watchers) are independent or partisan observers who attend the poll to
ensure the impartiality of the process.
The facility will be open between specified hours depending on the type of election, and political
activity by or on behalf of those standing in the ballot is usually prohibited within the venue and
immediately surrounding area.
Inside the polling place will be an area (usually a voting booth) where the voter may select the
candidate or party of their choice in secret. If a ballot paper is used this will be placed into a ballot
box in front of witnesses who cannot see for whom the vote has been cast. Voting machines may be
employed instead.
Some polling places are temporary structures. A portable cabin may be specially sited for an election
and removed afterwards.
There are five different types of voting technologies that are currently being used in the United
States polling locations. These include hand counted paper ballots, mechanical lever machines,
punch cards, optically scanned paper ballots, and electronic voting machines.
[1]
Each location is
charged
[clarification needed]
with learning the technology and implementing the process to vote in each
election.
[1