Agenda item

Report RES12140

The Committee received a report on issues arising from the Greater London Authority (GLA) elections on 3^rd May 2012. In addition, some comments from Councillor Tim Stevens relating to the Crofton Halls and Tubbenden Primary School polling stations in his ward were tabled. 

The report contained, at appendix 2, the Electoral Commission’s guidance on the conduct of tellers. The Committee considered the role of tellers and the issues that had been raised with regard to some polling stations. A small number of complaints had been received about voters feeling intimidated by tellers, and there had been some confusion about the secure disposal of polling cards.  Members commented that the purpose of tellers was to increase the number of people voting and complained that their role was not understood by the electorate or, in some cases, the electoral staff. There were reports of polling staff being hostile to tellers, for example not allowing elderly tellers to use toilet facilities within a polling station, and polling station staff preventing tellers from obtaining polling cards. Councillor Julian Grainger raised concerns about the behaviour of poll clerking teams in his ward, alleging that there appeared to be displays of political bias and frequent reports from tellers of poll clerks being hostile to them at one polling station (and, in the past, in two.) He queried whether choosing polling station staff on the basis that they lived nearby, while understandable for practical reasons, could mean that staff had an interest in the outcome of the election where they were serving.

Members proposed that a simple and prominent notice should be put up at each station explaining the role of tellers. The Returning Officer confirmed that this could be done, but asserted that the notice would have to explain that tellers had no legal status within the electoral process.  He also confirmed that polling station staff would be given specific training on the role of tellers and that these issues would be raised in the normal discussions with agents.

A number of other matters were raised by members of the Committee:

• Councillor Nicholas Bennett suggested that a prominent notice should be put up at Pickhurst Infant and Junior Schools, where there were polling stations serving different wards in the two schools on the same site.

• Councillor Peter Fookes queried when the decision had been taken to stop making return visits to collect registration forms. He was informed that this decision had been made as part of the budget savings the previous year.

• Councillor Charles Rideout drew attention to the need to move polling stations in his ward away from Castlecombe Primary School to the Mottingham Community Centre.

The Chairman clarified that the delays in delivering postal vote applications referred to in the report had been due to his party, and apologised for this. He added that his party Agent had remarked on how helpful Carol Ling, the Council’s Electoral Services Manager, had been throughout the process, and this was endorsed by the Committee.

The Chief Executive and Returning Officer undertook to consider the comments made by the Committee.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted and the Returning Officer be requested to consider the Committee’s comments.