Political leaders intervene to save all-night vote count
Friday, 11 September 2009 12:00 AM
By Jon Ashford
Representatives from across the political spectrum have spoken out against suggestions made by local authorities that might delay the counting of general election votes until the following morning - rather than the dramatic all-night count.
Currently vote counts take place the following day in local and European elections, but they do not have general election night's heritage of media coverage - the swingometer, the predictions and retractions, the unexpected wins and losses and the famous quips and memorable lines.
Councils raised the prospect of the morning count as a response to the costs of hiring additional tellers as harder to justify in times of spending cuts. Some also suggested their tellers would do a better job after a reasonable night's sleep.
But this has led to anger from political and media figures who fear moving the count will extinguish all the tension of election night.
On behalf of the Conservatives, Eric Pickles - the party's chairman - sent an open letter to Jack Straw, appealing for returning officers to stick to "traditional methods".
"At a time when interest and trust in politics is at such a low ebb, it would be a retrograde step to suck all the interest out of the most important and vibrant part of our democratic process.
"Consequently, I would ask that the Ministry of Justice, in consultation with the Electoral Commission and the mainstream political parties, seeks to issue new guidance to Electoral Returning Officers to encourage traditional practices to be maintained," he said.
A spokesperson for Lewisham borough council told politics.co.uk that the parliamentary count posed a significant administrative challenge, particularly in London boroughs.
"There are two sides to this coin. On the one side we have media and political figures saying it would be a really good thing. It's exciting, interesting and gets people engaged," he said.
"On the other side, the rules have changed and we have a lot more to do before we can commence the count, as London has ward elections at the same time as the general election.
"Both have to be verified before they can be counted," he added.
"From a purely administrative point of view I would, as an admin, favour the Friday count. As a voter I can see why it would make a lot of sense to count after the close of poll."
"But my bet is the vote will be probably counted on Thursday."
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