Electronic vote count to return after 'lessons learned' from 2007 fiasco

Published on Tuesday 14 October 2008 09:56

CONTROVERSIAL electronic counting machines are to be used in Edinburgh for the first time since last year's election night fiasco.

The city's returning officer, council chief executive Tom Aitchison, said he was "confident" that lessons had been learned from 2007, when the count was called off after the technology failed.

Mr Aitchison said the new voting system used at council level – where candidates are ranked in order of preference – would otherwise require a manual count the day after the Forth ward by-election.

At the same time, the council has announced a 10,000 programme to encourage more residents to vote in all forthcoming elections. One of the more unusual methods will include the use of Bluetooth technology to send messages to potential voters via their mobile phones.

Edinburgh has a relatively high rate of voter registration, at 75.9 per cent, but the figure is much lower among 18-to-24-year-olds living at home, students and the unemployed.

The council by-election on November 6 follows the death of Labour councillor Elizabeth Maginnis last month. Residents have until Wednesday October 22, to ensure they are on the electoral register for the contest.

The next scheduled UK-wide elections will be for the European Parliament in June next year, but a general election could be called at any point before May 2010.

Mr Aitchison said today: "The votes will be counted electronically. The use of the STV (voting system] makes a manual count more complicated, staff-intensive and time-consuming than previous by-elections.

"An identical e-counting process was successfully used at a recent by-election in Glasgow, where the result was delivered within two hours of the close of the poll.

"It is likely that a manual count, held the following day, would take several hours to complete, depending on the number of candidates.

"I am confident that the lessons of the elections in 2007 have been learned and that an accurate result can be delivered smoothly via an electronic count."

A council spokesman added: "Electronic systems continue to be the future of election ballot counting, with the aim of providing quicker and more accurate results."

However, the Government recently accepted the findings of expert Ron Gould, called in to examine the fiasco surrounding last year's election, who said there should be a return to a manual count for the next Holyrood vote, due to be held in 2011.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh's depute returning officer Jim Inch said moves to increase voter registration "should not be viewed as a one-off activity".

A range of measures are to be adopted to encourage participation, including leaflets and flyers, talks with local community groups, adverts on radio stations, and the use of Bluetooth and text messaging technology in clubs to reach younger voters.

VOTER QUOTA

VOTERS in the Forth by-election will rank the candidates in order of preference.

The ward is represented by four elected councillors and the winner of the by-election will fill the one vacant position.

SNP councillor Steve Cardownie, the Conservative's Allan Jackson and the Lib Dem's Elaine Morris are the three sitting representatives.

The winner will need 50 per cent of the total vote – plus one additional vote – to be elected, but this is highly unlikely to happen on first preferences alone.

Instead, once first choice votes have been counted, the candidate with the lowest number of supporters will be eliminated and their votes transferred to second preferences.

This will continue until one candidate reaches the quota and a winner is declared.