The Electoral Office is to review policies on flags in polling stations following complaints over Union and GAA flags on display during voting in recent elections.
One complaint described as "intimidating" a display of Union flag bunting at a primary school used as a polling station in May.
Derry GAA flags and an "idol relating to Roman Catholicism" also prompted a complaint over another primary school, saying it was "hardly a suitable neutral environment".
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One voter said they told their 10-year-old daughter wearing a GAA kit to cover up after seeing people putting up Union flags outside a polling station.
They said it was "pretty stressful" going inside to vote "with Irish passports".
Details of the written complaints to the Electoral Office over flags at polling stations in May were obtained by Belfast Live through a Freedom of Information request.
The electoral body will be "reviewing the polling station scheme" in the autumn and will "look at options available", officials said in responses to some of the complaints.
They said they have "limited powers outside" polling stations but they ask parties not to place election materials or flags on school railings and lampposts within the curtilage of the venue.
It follows questions over an image circulated online which appeared to show a polling station at Blythefield Primary School in South Belfast bedecked in Union flag bunting.
The Electoral Office had said it would generally not remove displays of flags within schools but may discuss minimising them "if the display is excessive".
A handful of complaints were received by the electoral body about flags on display around and inside polling stations in May.
The council election was held in the weeks following King Charles' coronation, which some communities marked by displaying Union flags.
One complaint said Catholic voters regarded as "intimidating" a display of Union flag bunting at Ampertaine Primary School in Maghera, Co Derry.
The principal of the school said that when it is next used in elections they will "ensure that no flags will be displayed within the school grounds", according to an email to the Electoral Office.
A voter also complained about Derry GAA flags outside St Finlough's Primary School near Limavady.
They added: "Upon entry to the polling station you are then met with an idol relating to Roman Catholicism.
"This is hardly a suitable neutral environment for a polling station and quite intimidating to those of a PUL (Protestant unionist loyalist) background."
Another voter made a complaint about seeing people putting up Union flags and Ulster banners along a street outside a polling station at Moneyrea Primary School, near Newtownards.
They wrote: "I had to tell my daughter to put on her coat and cover up her (GAA) strip as I didn't want to cause any trouble with her in the middle of it. Had to explain to a 10-year-old what intimidation was and why I asked her to cover up."
They added: "Felt pretty stressful going into voting poll with Irish passports.
"It's usually intimidating enough with the regular kerb painting but to have to walk past these boys putting up flags raised it to another level."
A complaint was also made about the area around a polling station in Belfast's Belvoir estate being "festooned with flags".
Another complained about a primary school being "decked out internally with Union flags", adding: "I would anticipate inside the actual polling buildings to be impartial ground."
SDLP MP Claire Hanna, MLA Matthew O'Toole and councillor Gary McKeown wrote to the Electoral Office raising concerns about the display at Blythefield polling station in South Belfast.
In response, the Electoral Office said: "We ask the staff from the premises to remove anything in the room to be used for the election that could be deemed offensive prior to the election.
"We do not request our polling station staff to remove flags or religious symbols from the polling premises.
"Where there are concerns, the polling station staff can discuss the issue with the office to determine if further action is required."
It added: "We will consider this issue further and see what if any further guidance we need to provide on this."
Blythefield in May directed media queries over the bunting issue to the Education Authority, which itself referred questions to the Electoral Office.
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