The Returning Officer, Democratic and Electoral Services Manager and Electoral Services Officer have been invited to attend.

The Chairman welcomed the Chief Executive in his capacity as Returning Officer, the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager and the Electoral Services Officer to the meeting.

The Returning Officer presented the report and gave an overview of the complex and unique circumstances of the Parliamentary/Borough and Parish/Town elections on 7 May 2015 which included:

·         New borough ward boundaries

·         New parish boundaries

·         Cross boundary arrangements with the Faversham and Mid Kent parliamentary constituency

·         New legislative requirements, in particular the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration

·         Largest volume of postal votes

·         Tight resources

The Returning Officer praised the dedication and thanked the elections staff for their efforts in the organising of the election. He stated that accuracy was the most important factor and apart from the issue with Tunstall Urban Ward of Tunstall Parish this had been achieved.

Members of the Scrutiny Committee were invited to ask questions on the report and the appendix.

A Member referred to the wording on page 4 of the report regarding ‘down time’ as to what this meant. The Returning Officer explained that counters on tables could not move to the next process until verification clearance had been given, and there was sometimes a queue at the central table whilst table supervisors waited for clearance before they could start the next process. 

A Member thanked the Returning Officer for the full report and asked what progress had been made in improving the situation in future, and what provision had been made for the health and wellbeing of staff?

The Returning Officer advised that the central table was necessary to control the process and to ensure an accurate count was conducted. Whilst one additional count team may have helped, the addition of further count tables was not practical due to the size of the room.  The Returning Officer also advised that some processes were not within the control of Swale, for example concerning the Faversham and Mid-Kent Constituency. The majority of polling and counting staff had mostly worked in specific shifts to cover the process, however, it had not been possible for all staff to have breaks, particularly the central team.  The Returning Officer advised that the elections team had worked full days, weekends and Bank Holidays for around six weeks prior to the Election day because the expertise was contained within a small number of people.

In response to a question, the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager clarified the ‘giving away’ process as referred to in the report at 2.7 and advised that a Parliamentary Boundary Review was due to commence after the electoral register was published on 1 December 2015.

A Member advised that other boroughs had faced similar issues, but had published their electoral register on new boundaries earlier than Swale.  He considered that the Polling Review had been carried out late, and sought confirmation of the date of the European Parliamentary Elections.  He also made reference to incidents of the late arrival of postal votes.

The Returning Officer advised that whilst other boroughs may have experienced a similar combination of factors that Swale had, other boroughs had also experienced similar problems. Swale also had a stream-lined Elections Team when compared with other authorities. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager outlined the process of sending out postal votes, and explained that a lot of voters had applied close to the deadline which had caused the second batch of postal votes to go out a day later than planned in the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency.  Due to the national demand for postal votes it had been difficult for printers to cope with demand. The Returning Officer added that there was a limited number of printers nationally available able to carry out the work, and emphasized that Swale would have liked more control over the postal voting system for electors in the Faversham and Mid-Kent constituency.

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager clarified that European Parliamentary Elections were due to be held in 2019, and that European elections were usually held on local boundaries, rather than parliamentary boundaries. She also referred to legislative changes which had allowed parish elections to be held on the same day as a parliamentary election. She further advised that the Polling District Review had started in February 2014; however due to the European Parliamentary elections and the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) it had not been possible to report back to the General Purposes Committee until October 2014. The General Purposes Committee had then requested additional changes which had not been suggested during the consultation period.  In respect of the Meads Ward, it had not been possible to use the Community Centre as it had not been built as planned but the alternative arrangements had worked well.  In response to a further question, the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager confirmed that Swale had not issued incorrect information to electors.  She was aware of a difficulty in the Faversham and Mid-Kent Constituency for some candidates as their parties had provided them with elector numbers from a previous version of the register.

In answer to a question from a Member regarding the late receipt of postal votes in Sittingbourne and Sheppey, the Electoral Services Officer advised that he had immediately reissued the postal votes where valid requests had been received from postal voters, and he was not aware of any incidents where a postal vote had not been reissued.

A Member welcomed the report; thanked the staff; noted that all authorities had suffered delays in declaring results; and considered that there had been no fundamental errors. In response, the Returning Officer agreed that results across the County were generally declared much later than expected, however, there had been a fundamental error with the Tunstall Urban Ward of Tunstall Parish Council which he fully accepted, and this had been documented by the Electoral Commission.

Another Member gave praise to the elections staff for their help in the run up to the election, but highlighted an issue with the allocation of voters to the new polling station in Vincent Gardens, Sheerness. The same Member questioned the response by Presiding Officers to the Survey and gave an example of a difficulty at a polling station where it had not been possible for the Presiding Officer to contact the Elections Team.

The Returning Officer thanked the Member for her positive comments and advised that there would be a general review of polling stations.  He also advised that a high percentage of Presiding Officers did respond to the survey.  He advised of the tendered vote procedure and that staff were asked to contact the Elections Team before issuing a tendered ballot paper.  However, after 9pm staff had to relocate to the Sports Hall at the Swallows Leisure Centre in preparation for the receipt of ballot boxes from 10pm.  The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager confirmed her mobile phone number was given to all Presiding Officers.  She advised that there would be a polling district review after the elections in May 2016 which would also pick up the new boundary arrangements for Kent County Council which were expected in January 2016.

The Electoral Services Officer confirmed there had been 48 responses from Presiding Officers, mostly positive, and he was not aware of the issue raised but would investigate this and respond to the Member.

A Member spoke of the problems with  postal votes within the Faversham and Mid-Kent boundary and sought clarification on which Borough wards had been affected by the error in the postal vote pack.  He further stated that independent candidates had been disadvantaged by not being able to apply for the electoral register at the same time as political parties, and asked for this issue to be raised with the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administration, and the Local Government Association.  The Returning Officer agreed to raise the issue and acknowledged the errors in sending out the postal votes for the Faversham and Mid-Kent constituency which he was surprised had not been reflected in the Electoral Commission’s review of performance standards.  The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager confirmed that the four wards affected were Abbey, Boughton and Courtenay, St. Ann’s and Watling.

A Member thanked staff for their exceptionally hard work in a complex situation and highlighted the introduction of the IER before the general election and software changes at the wrong time.  He suggested that more training was necessary for counters and table supervisors.  The Returning Officer advised that there was no control over the introduction of the IER, and there were only a small number of electoral management software providers who had been given instructions by the Cabinet Office on how the IER system would work. He further advised that some processes in the count were deliberately not delegated as this required careful management, and to keep this task within a handful of key people was essential for accuracy.  The Returning Officer also advised that there were always some new, inexperienced staff brought in for every election and that table supervisors managed their team.  It was noted that the speed of counters did vary and that there were fewer bank staff available to assist than in previous years.

A Member asked whether breaches of electoral law were a matter for the Police or the Returning Officer.  The Returning Officer advised that generally depending on the issue,  the party involved would be alerted, and asked to rectify the situation, but he would alert the Police to persistent offenders. There was a named single point of contact in the Police for election matters.

In response to a suggestion by a Member of changing the software to speed up the process at the count, the Returning Officer advised that it was not a software issue but some other methods in the process could be improved and this would be considered.

Another Member considered that the new Polling Booths could lack privacy in some circumstances, and the Returning Officer agreed to highlight this issue in training with Presiding Officers.

In response to a question from a Member, the Electoral Services Officer clarified the difficulties there had been at the polling station at Minterne School, Sittingbourne on the day.

Members highlighted delays in the admission of candidates and agents to the count venue, and it was suggested that the doors should be opened earlier.  The Returning Officer agreed to consider earlier entry, and the Electoral Services Officer advised that the sign-in process would be reviewed to make the process more efficient.

A Member commented on the poor sound system, and another Member asked that the press should wear ID. The Returning Officer advised that the press would not be allowed entry without ID and would be asked to wear it at all times, and the sound system would be investigated.

The Chairman thanked the Returning Officer, Democratic and Electoral Services Manager and Electoral Services Officer for attending the meeting.