Ricky votes for the first time in an election

Adults all over the UK have been voting in the European and local elections this week, including Newsround's presenters.

Ricky got to the vote for the first time and find out a bit more about the voting process...

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"This week, I voted for the first time in the European and local elections 2009.

After years of not being old enough to vote - you have to be 18 or older - I finally got the chance to have my say and take part in democracy.

But I have to admit, as this was my first time to chose a candidate from a political party, I was feeling a little bit nervous.

I wasn't sure how the voting process worked either. After all, it's nothing like voting for a singer on The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent.

Campaigns

Earlier this month I received a special bit of paper with my name and address on it, telling me where my nearest polling station is.

Ricky's got his polling card, ready to vote

That's the place where you vote. They are usually in local churches or community centres.

In the weeks running up to voting day I noticed lots of campaigns on the TV from political parties talking about their policies and why I should vote for them.

I even saw a few vans driving around London with loudspeakers encouraging people on the street to 'get out and vote'!

So after thinking about who I should vote for, I headed to the polling station before they closed at 10pm.

Anonymous

It was a lot easier to vote than I thought. Once inside the polling station, I handed in the card with my name and address on it to three of the volunteers.

In return I was handed something called a ballot paper. This sheet contains lots of different names and the political parties they represent.

All I had to do was walk over to a wall with lots of partitions, so I couldn't see who the other people in the room were voting for.

With a thick black pencil I marked a cross next to the name of the person I wanted to vote for.

After that, I placed my ballot paper inside a special locked box, which is only opened when it's time to count all the votes.

Voting was really simple and now I'm looking forward to finding out all the results."

Ricky