Should you take a pen to a polling station?

Ahead of the elections on 7 May, we’ve seen social media posts urging voters to take their own pen to the polling station rather than use the pencil provided, with some suggesting it may help avoid vote tampering. We’ve fact checked similar concerns in the past.

Voters across Wales and Scotland will be going to the polls for their parliamentary elections on Thursday 7 May, while many living in England will also be voting in local elections on the same day.

In the run-up to polling day we’ve spotted a number of posts on social media saying voters should use pens rather than pencils on their ballots.

One post on Facebook, which has been liked more than 1,400 times, mentions ensuring “all polling stations are iron clad tight from corruption”, and urges people to “USE PEN NOT PENCIL!”

Another says: “It’s extremely important that you take YOUR OWN PEN with you when voting, there have been concerns that only PENCILS were made available at the last elections, this raises obvious doubts surrounding the potential for tampering.”

What are the rules around voting in pen or pencil?

The Electoral Commission, the independent regulator of elections and political financing, explained in a video posted last year that pencils are generally provided for practical reasons, such as them being cheaper to provide than pens.

It said that “there’s no reason to be concerned” about vote tampering if you vote in pencil. And it also warned that using a pen could potentially “cause your vote to get thrown out”, in cases where wet ink smudges, and accidentally spoils your ballot paper.

“Ink from a pen might smudge when you fold your ballot paper in half, causing your vote to be unclear, or your cross might have rubbed into a second box in an election where you can only vote for one candidate which would then disqualify your vote,” a spokesperson for the organisation said.

But the Electoral Commission does stress that you are completely free to bring your own pen or pencil with you to vote if you want to, and “you don’t have to use the pencil that the polling station provides”.

Its guidance stipulates that polling stations must provide “pens or pencils to enable voters to mark their ballot papers”.

How do we know votes aren’t tampered with?

Voters put their ballot papers in ballot boxes, which are sealed by the presiding officer before being taken to the count venue. Polling agents (people who usually observe the elections process) are also able to add their own seal if they wish.

Once the polls close the ballot boxes must be packed up, still sealed, and transferred to the count. Only there, in the presence of other officials, can the ballot boxes be opened.

In order to ensure the security of the vote and that no one can tamper with any marks made on ballot papers, there are laws in place as to who can attend the count.

Guidelines issued to counting officers also state that everyone who is entitled to attend must have an “unrestricted view” of what is going on. Counting agents can be appointed by candidates to observe the verification and counting processes. Accredited observers can also attend and observe the counts.

The Electoral Commission told us this week that it does not hold any data on reports of pencil-cast votes being erased or changed. But it provided some more background in response to a Freedom of Information request about pencil use back in 2016, when it said: “The use of pencils does not in itself increase the likelihood of electoral fraud: while pencil marks can be rubbed out, similarly, pen marks can be crossed out.

“What is key is that the integrity of the process from the point that a voter marks their ballot paper to the declaration of the result is maintained. To this end, the legislation has built specific safeguards into the process, such as the requirement for seals to be attached to ballot boxes at the close of poll.”