Statement from Birmingham Returning Officer Stephen Hughes regarding queues at St Paul’s Church polling station, Ladywood.
No more than a handful of Birmingham’s 526 polling stations were affected by the issues reported widely in the media last night, in various locations across the country.
The council has a team of inspectors that goes to polling stations across the city during election day and if any issues are spotted, there is a pool of response staff that can be reallocated to stations where more support is needed. This is exactly what happened yesterday.
In terms of the sites where issues have been reported, there was a dedicated effort to ensure as many people as possible were able to vote – we are aware unfortunately that a small number of people may have been unable to cast their ballot at St Paul’s Church in the Ladywood constituency, and that is something that we are investigating. This should not have happened and I personally apologise to those who were unable to vote as a consequence.
I have today spoken to the Electoral Commission, and we will fully co-operate with their investigation which will be completed very quickly. I’ve put in arrangements myself to find out what actually happened in each polling station and to enable the public to tell us about their experiences.
There were no issues with a shortage of ballot papers as the council always makes the contingency of having more available than it needs. The turnout across the city was 59 per cent. The highest was Sutton Coldfield (68 per cent) and the lowest was Ladywood (49 per cent).
People can leave comments below or email elections2010@birmingham.gov.uk on this issue.
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Deborah,
Thank you for your response.
I will provide my comments to the email address in your reply.
Regards,
Brian Simpson
Disenfranchised Ladywood Resident
Sorry Brian you had this experience. The city council has apologised for this experience at St Paul’s and has spoken to the Electoral Commission today about refining the rules on what happens when polling closes at 10pm and has invited people to comment on their experiences at election2010@birmingham.gov.uk.
Deborah
Ref: CPE 962
Dear Mr Hughes,
I am a resident in the Jewellery Quarter who was unable to vote in the Parliamentary General and Local Elections on 6 May due to the Jewellery Quarter Polling Station in St Paul’s Church not being able to process votes before the poll closed at 10pm. I arrived at the polling station 1 hour before the polls were due to close and took my place behind an estimated 200 people. I don’t think that it is unreasonable to expect you to provide the capacity to process the votes of the 3500+ residents in the Jewellery Quarter who are mainly of working age and presumably only able to vote first thing in the morning or in the evening after their working day? At 10pm there were still well over 100 people waiting to vote.
I am resigned to the fact that I have lost my vote. The first time I have not voted in over 30 years. I am extremely disillusioned with the electoral process.
The polling officer was placed in a very difficult situation having to deal with an anxious crowd. He didn’t close the poll until after the police had arrived thereby allowing some people to vote after 10pm, contrary to the Electoral Commission guidance.
There was no formal way to make a complaint on the night. A list of names and email addresses handed in on the back of an envelope. I hope you are in possession of these and will follow up to constituents who have lost their votes?
I look forward to hearing assurances that you will address these issues in future elections.
Regards,
Brian Simpson
Disenfranchised Ladywood Resident