The report is the result of a review, which takes place annually, to enable the council to learn lessons from the most recent elections. It will be considered by the Civic Affairs Committee on 16 September.
In May 2015, in addition to the Parliamentary election, there were also local elections for 14 city council seats. The Electoral Commission reviews the performance of Returning Officers and has recently confirmed that the council continues to meet the Commission’s election performance standards.
The report reveals that the majority of complaints received by the Returning Officer about the election related to postal voting. 12,861 postal vote packs were issued, an increase of 18% on the previous year. The impact of new rules for verifying postal votes meant that later registrations could not legally be issued until one week before polling day and this resulted in a number of those overseas electors not being able to return the completed ballot packs in time to be counted. This was a problem across the country.
The report also describes how six out of 102 rejected postal votes were rejected in error. In describing what happened, Ms Jackson said: “I am deeply disappointed that the system failed. The wrongly rejected votes would not have changed the outcome of any of the local or parliamentary results but six voters were denied their right to vote because of human error.
“I have written to all six to make them aware of what happened, to apologise and to make them aware of the steps I am taking to stop a recurrence in future years.”
As well as reviewing what happened at the recent elections, the report reviews the impact of Individual Electoral Registration on the city. Everyone who has not registered under the new system by 20 November will be removed from the current register when it is published on 1 December. Cambridge, in common with other university cities with transient populations, faces significant challenges in ensuring the register is accurate and people do not lose their right to vote. It is estimated that in Cambridge approximately 13,000 people will be removed from the register in December. Given the large number of students in the city, it is likely the majority of these people will have finished their course and moved away. There is also a risk that people who have moved within the city have not registered at their new address or that residents do not realise that each person needs to take action to register themselves. The council is working hard to make sure the new system works and is keen to remind all voters that they do need register themselves if they have not already done so. People can register online at www.gov.uk/registertovote *****
The full report is available at http://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=179&MId=2787&Ver=4
Contact:Antoinette Jackson, Returning Officer for the local elections and Electoral Registration Officer, email:antoinette.jackson@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 457001
As well as reviewing what happened at the recent elections, the report reviews the impact of Individual Electoral Registration on the city. Everyone who has not registered under the new system by 20 November will be removed from the current register when it is published on 1 December. Cambridge, in common with other university cities with transient populations, faces significant challenges in ensuring the register is accurate and people do not lose their right to vote. It is estimated that in Cambridge approximately 13,000 people will be removed from the register in December. Given the large number of students in the city, it is likely the majority of these people will have finished their course and moved away. There is also a risk that people who have moved within the city have not registered at their new address or that residents do not realise that each person needs to take action to register themselves. The council is working hard to make sure the new system works and is keen to remind all voters that they do need register themselves if they have not already done so. People can register online at www.gov.uk/registertovote *****
The full report is available at http://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=179&MId=2787&Ver=4
Contact:Antoinette Jackson, Returning Officer for the local elections and Electoral Registration Officer, email:antoinette.jackson@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 457001