Councillor hits out over plans for election count 'all-nighter'

District Council member Cllr John McCartney (Ind, SDC Eggborough) has branded plans that would see all votes counted across three separate elections during one night a 'bizarre decision'.

The elections all take place on May 7th when, as well as sending a Member of Parliament to Westminster, the area will also be voting on up to two local elections being held on the same day. All areas will be electing Councillors to sit on Selby District Council for the next four years, some communities will also be selecting Parish or Town Councillors at the same time.

Votes cast in the General Election will be counted with priority with the victor expected to be announced by around 3:00am. As a result, ballots cast in the District election will not get counted until after the Westminster seat has been filled, leading to tired eyes amongst the district's candidates.

And spare a thought for those awaiting the result of community parish polls - They, say the Councillor, will be unlikely to see their votes counted until around 6:00am. 

The Councillor says the normal practice when multiple elections are held would be to count the votes for the Parliamentary seat straight after the polls close and come back the following day to determine the outcome of the local elections during Friday daytime.

Issue have also been voiced over the location of this year's count. This year, for the first time, ballots cast by Selby's voters will be counted in Tadcaster's Riley Smith Hall instead of the more centrally located Selby town centre locations of previous years.

Councillor John McCartney said, "Why would she move the election count away from Selby Town, where the Council has its civic centre and leisure centre which would be free, to a venue which the taxpayers will have foot the bill for?

"The idea that prospective councillors will have to haul themselves out of bed at one or two o'clock in the morning, after a long and busy day, delivering last minute leaflets, giving elderly residents a lift to the polling stations and 'knocking up' up reluctant voters is just stupid.

"Prospective councillors and their agents have a right to be at count, to see that it is conducted fairly, that there is no skulduggery."

Cllr McCartney also pointed out that an election 'all-nighter' could be bad news for count staff, "[It] all makes for a very, very long night for all of the team. Mistakes are made by tired people. A mistake in the election process can only be overturned by a election petition to the High Court, a complicated and expensive process.

Responding to the councillors claims, Council Chief Executive and Returning Officer for the district, Mary Weastell, told TheSelebian, "Making decisions on issues like this is about trying to accommodate the needs of all those involved, and to ensure we carry out the task as efficiently and effectively as possible.

"We want to complete the count as quickly as possible to avoid any delays in people knowing the outcome.  We’ve chosen the Riley Smith Hall in Tadcaster because it offers good quality facilities of the right size and in the centre of the Selby and Ainsty parliamentary constituency; which of course goes beyond the boundaries of the Selby District Council area. 

"It is actually easier to staff an overnight count, and of course those who are involved in polling stations are not involved in counting votes.  The hours people work are carefully managed: this would actually be more of an issue were we to count some votes the following day.  We have in place a management plan for the election that deals with a wide range of issues and scenarios to ensure we can understand the impact of decisions.

"Our goal is to avoid any unnecessary delay in announcing these important results."

Keep with TheSelebian for full coverage of the General and local elections from Monday, March 30th.