Ministers warned over the dangers of unforgettable election nights

A NEW law forcing general election counts to take place at night might not be workable, ministers were warned yesterday.

A row broke out after Justice Secretary Jack Straw accepted a Conservative proposal to force all counts to take place within four hours of polling stations closing.

The idea was put forward to stop returning officers across the UK from holding election counts the day after an election. Politicians from across most parties complained that such a move would take away much of the drama of election night.

Many hark back to moments of high tension and excitement when results were announced, such as the defeat of Michael Portillo in the 1997 general election, which was announced at 3.10am.

There had been suggestions too that there could be security risks with ballot boxes stuffed with votes being left overnight.

However, many returning officers have hit out at the Tory amendment to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill.

They argue that counting during the day will provide a better and safer result.

City of Edinburgh Council chief executive Tom Aitchison, Scotland's chief returning officer, is known to support holding counts the day after an election.

Yesterday he refused to comment personally on the decision by MPs to support the amendment, but a spokesman insisted the issue was not about saving money from paying people to work overnight.

He said: "It is all about the quality of the count. Once it gets very late, then people are not as awake as they would be during the day."

However, he said returning officers would now probably agree to hold night counts and not move them to the next day, even though the bill is unlikely to become law before the next general election.

The Electoral Commission has raised doubts over the wording of the amendment. A spokesman said: "We understand the desire of candidates to know the result as soon as possible after polls close.

"However, returning officers have a responsibility to make sure the results are accurate and accepted. Nothing is more important than that. We believe that the new clause as currently drafted may not be workable.

"We do not believe that guidance issued to returning officers could anticipate every circumstance that would justify a delay to the start of the count."

The spokesman said there had previously been a convention that there was no change to electoral law in the six months before an election, to give time for any necessary preparations to be made.

"Clearly any departure from this would need to be very carefully considered," he added.

Mr Straw said: "Concern has been expressed on all sides of the House about a growing trend by electoral returning officers, for their own convenience and nobody else's, to defer the counting of most of the constituencies until the following day."

OFFICE BEARER

RETURNING officers, usually council chief executives, are responsible for the conduct of elections in their area. The position is accompanied with a top-up salary.

The returning officer announces the result and adjudicates on whether to allow votes on potentially spoilt ballot papers or recounts in close contests.

This came under scrutiny in the last Holyrood election when the returning officer in Aberdeen allowed a recount for a seat where Labour had a 382 majority, but in Cunninghame North, where the SNP majority was just 48, a recount was ruled out.