Searchable by postcode. If you find any mistakes in the EDDC information, let Owl know: eastdevonwatch@gmail.com
Includes:
FAQS
How do I change my details on the electoral register?
Do I need to re-register to vote if I move home?
How do I check the electoral register?
Can I search the electoral register online?
Is Mark Williams ready for this?
“Very welcome news from the latest Electoral Commission bulletin:
“In Bulletin 173 we advised that we would again be supporting Democracy Club in their work to provide an online polling station finder and encouraged all councils to provide the necessary polling station data to Democracy Club. This work will allow voters to find their polling station online by entering their postcode. We will soon be adding polling station information to our Your Vote Matters website so that visitors to the site can find out where their polling station is.
We will also be making available a list of candidates standing for election on our Your Vote Matters website. This information is being compiled from the statements of persons nominated published on local authority websites. To find this information, users will need to enter their postcode on the main landing page of the site, and candidates standing for elections in their area will then be listed.”
Having one central website where you can enter your address and find out where your polling station is might sound like a simple, obvious step. Which it is – but also one that was elusive for many years because polling station data is split between all the different local councils, and moreover not stored in systems designed to make it simple to export and share such data for combined use.
http://www.markpack.org.uk/149349/online-polling-station-finder-2017-general-election/
“Reforms to the electoral registration process under this and the previous coalition government have led to changes which experts and campaigners alike have described as negative for democracy.
We stand at a critical crossroads in our democracy. The number of people that are on the electoral register is in long-term decline. It was estimated that up to 7.5 million people were not registered in 2014. During the transition to individual electoral registration (IER) another 1.4 million names were removed. Dramatically, the number of attainers, our next generation of voters, fell by 40%.
In a draft report, co-authored with Bite The Ballot, and presented to the All-Party Parliamentary Party on Democratic Participation for discussion today, new information is unveiled about the nature of the problem. Findings from a new UEA survey of electoral administrators, as detailed in the report, shows that two-thirds of electoral administrators agreed that citizens had complained to them about the registration process being bureaucratic. Roughly half of electoral officials thought that the completeness of the register had declined.”
PLEASE try to identify and get the missing voters registered – we know from bitter experience we can’t leave this to our Electoral Registration Officer – who had to appear before Parliament to explain why he “lost” around 6,000 voters in East Devon prior to the last election
In December, up to 1.9m people will be deleted from the voting register.
The way we register to vote is changing. Councils have been transferring everyone from the old voting register to the new one, but they haven’t finished the job. The government originally planned to give councils until December 2016 to re-register the missing voters. But over the summer they announced that they would speed up the process. Anyone who hasn’t been transferred to the new register will be deleted in December – that’s up to 1.9m people.
Why are the government rushing the job? In April, the new voting register will be used to work out new constituency boundaries for the 2020 election. Anyone who is removed from the register in December won’t be counted. That means areas with lots of voters who haven’t been transferred will get fewer seats in Parliament.
Tell your MP to sign EDM 333 to save the missing voters
These changes will be passed on November 2nd without even a vote in the House of Commons – unless enough MPs request a debate by signing an Early Day Motion.
Please write to your MP to ask them to sign EDM 333.
The London Evening Standard published this article today. Of course, we know all about this in East Devon, as our Electoral Returning Officer (EDDC CEO Mark Williams) “lost” around 6,000 local voters before the last elections in May 2015. Coincidentally, these were exactly the kind of voters referred to below – ” …young people, private sector tenants, ethnic minorities and those from more socially deprived communities — who traditionally are less likely to vote Conservative — are most likely to be affected.”
The full text of the article:
Tens of thousands of Londoners could disappear from the electoral roll and lose their right to vote in next year’s mayoral and London Assembly elections, it was claimed today.
Ministers were accused of a “shameful abuse of power” after they brought forwards changes to the electoral registration system which critics claim could undermine the democratic outcome of key elections in the capital.
The Liberal Democrats said that up to two million voters across the country could be effectively disenfranchised with Londoners particularly at risk since the capital has such a large and transient population. Young people, private sector tenants, ethnic minorities and those from more socially deprived communities — who traditionally are less likely to vote Conservative — are most likely to be affected.
The Government, however, has insisted it is focusing on cleaning up the register which under the old system included many “ghost” voters who should no longer be included.
Lib-Dem MP Tom Brake, who has tabled a rejection motion in the House of Commons, said: “This is clearly going to lead to a very large number of people being disenfranchised and it’s very hard not to believe that there’s some political motivation behind it because the people most likely to be affected are probably not Conservative supporters.”
Lib-Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon added: “The Government is blatantly ignoring the independent electoral commission in pursuit of narrow party advantage. It is a shameful abuse of power.
“Removing nearly two million UK voters will leave gaping holes in the electoral register, especially in many parts of London. It will undermine the democratic outcome of next year’s Mayor and London Assembly elections.”
The Government brought forward the new system by a year to December 2015, even though the electoral commission advised ministers to spend another year transferring voters on the old household-based register to the new individual register.
Critics have warned that as the cleaned-up register will form the basis of the boundary review of parliamentary seats due to begin next year it will also result in fewer inner-city seats, which would favour the Conservatives.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The transition to Individual Electoral Registration has been a huge success. Now we need to remove up to two million entries on the electoral registers which are inaccurate or out of date.”
In a letter to The Guardian, Cabinet Office minister John Penrose said: “It is absolutely untrue that anyone will accidentally find themselves unable to vote because of the change to individual electoral registration. Completing the transition this December will mean that all boundaries are based on the most accurate registers.”
“I’m afraid that people who oppose this will make the voting registers less accurate, and elections less fair with higher risk of fraud. People will conclude that they’re trying try to hang on to the existing system simply because it gives them an inbuilt party-political advantage, and that they’re putting this ahead of what’s right and fair.”
Sir Eric Pickles, who is launching the biggest-ever investigation into electoral fraud in Britain, warns in an article for The Daily Telegraph that the authorities are “turning a blind eye to criminal conduct”.
By Peter Dominiczak, Political Editor7:35PM BST 12 Aug 2015
Electoral fraud is being ignored in the same way that child sex abuse allegations have been because politically correct police forces and councils fear offending ethnic minorities, the Government’s anti-corruption tsar says today.
Sir Eric Pickles, who is launching the biggest-ever investigation into electoral fraud in Britain, warns in an article for The Daily Telegraph that the authorities are “turning a blind eye to criminal conduct”.
It comes after Lutfur Rahman, the mayor of Tower Hamlets in east London, was earlier this year removed from office after he was found guilty of electoral fraud.
Sir Eric compares the lack of action on allegations of electoral fraud to the scandal of local authorities and police forces ignoring claims of child sex abuse in towns across Britain.
Many of those allegations concerned Asian gangs targeting vulnerable young girls.
The law must always be “applied equally and fairly to everyone”, Sir Eric warns.
“In Tower Hamlets, police and council staff failed to tackle intimidation – often in foreign languages – both inside and outside polling stations,” Mr Pickles writes.
“Just as we have seen with child sexual exploitation in places like Rochdale and Rotherham, institutionalised political correctness can lead to the state turning a blind eye to criminal conduct. But the law must be applied equally and fairly to everyone.
“Integration and good community relations are undermined by the failure to do so.”
He adds: “The problems go deep – despite years of warnings of misconduct in Tower Hamlets, the state watchdogs gave the borough’s electoral system a gold-star rating for integrity in inspection reports. We still have a series of tick-box inspections of town hall returning officers that are as ineffectual and useless as those once practised by the now-abolished Audit Commission.”
Sir Eric, who was Communities and Local Government Secretary until David Cameron’s last reshuffle, said that the Government is “no longer prepared to turn a blind eye to Britain’s modern day rotten boroughs”.
His review will report by the end of the year and will examine what steps are necessary to stop voter registration fraud and error, postal voting fraud, impersonation, intimidation and bribery.
Sir Eric raises concerns that the London mayoral elections next year could be mired by voter fraud.
“Despite the fact there are London elections next year, a sizeable minority of those voters signed up in Tower Hamlets remain unverified and could be fakes,” he writes.
“In Hackney, the situation is even worse, with almost a quarter of the electorate unverified and potentially non-existent. We urgently need to clean up these registers. Across the country, electors from abroad are not properly checked to ensure that they qualify to vote when they register.
“Fraudulent registration is frequently tied to illegal immigration, as illegal migrants sign up to make it easier to get credit or a mobile phone. Such illegality feeds through to further crimes, such as benefit and housing fraud.”
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, earlier this year set up a major inquiry into child abuse following revelations about the crimes committed by Jimmy Savile as well as disclosures about abuse in Derby, Oxford and towns across Britain.
There were also a series of allegations about a Westminster paedophile ring.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/11799673/Eric-Pickles-Political-correct-officials-ignoring-electoral-fraud-just-like-sex-abuse.html
From P Freeman, comment on earlier post:
I learned today from a FoI to the Electoral Commission that our ERO / RO has not fulfilled his responsibilities in another area, specifically ‘How many people tried to vote on polling day and were found not to be registered?’.
Most other ERO/RO have provided this information, but a few including East Devon’s RO/ERO have not.
It would seem so.
East Devon Election and Returning Officer Mark Williams (also CEO of East Devon District Council) rather grudgingly admitted that “things had gone wrong” at the last election but said it would not happen again in this newspaper article published today:
No mention of the fact that he was hauled in to a Parliamentary Committee to explain why he “lost” 6,000 voters (answer: because he thought his idea of telephoning missing voters was better than the government’s guidance of visiting them), was particularly noted by the Electoral Commission for not following those guidelines, or why East Devon was one of only SEVEN councils out of more than 400 to have made MULTIPLE mistakes. OR that he has been doing the job for years but still doesn’t seem to have got it quite right.
If it were a junior officer or councillor who had not been considered up-to-scratch (particularly an Independent Councillor) would he or she had got off so lightly?
Teflon-coated?
“East Devon residents are asked for their views and suggestions on polling stations ready for council to consider in December
East Devon District Council is due to launch a review into the district’s polling districts and polling places and is seeking feedback from the public.
The council will be pleased to receive views from anyone, but particularly stakeholders, such as electors, parishes, political parties and councillors. It will also be grateful for comments from people and organisations with expertise in access for people with disabilities.
Anyone who would like information about a particular parish or part of the district should contact us either by e-mail (elections@eastdevon.gov.uk) or telephone (01395 517550).
East Devon District Council’s Chief Executive, Mark Williams, said:
“Over the years, the locations where voting takes place in East Devon have remained the same, except for occasions where a building is no longer available. Following the recent election we now need to review the existing situation.
“If anyone thinks we should be looking at alternative locations to the polling stations that were used in May this year or have comments on the stations that were used, please could they let us have their views as soon as possible.”
Views and comments should be made in writing, setting out any alternative suggestions, by no later than Friday, 25 September 2015 to the Electoral Services Manager, East Devon District Council, Council Offices, Knowle, Sidmouth EX10 8HL
The Chief Executive will make proposals to the council, taking account of all the views and comments that are received. The council meeting where the recommendations will be considered will be held on Wednesday 16 December 2015 and will be open to the public.”
If you have any reservations about locations or access to polling stations do let Mr Williams know. It is a very long time since these locations were first chosen and some of them may now be inappropriate.
One assumes that locations in the ownership of or linked closely to serving councillors will not be considered appropriate.
Interesting snippet from yesterday’s local plan hearing. Apparently developers were complaining that over-development in Cranbrook is depressing prices there and there is more money (sorry, better opportunities for housing supply) in other parts of the district.
Mr Thickett asked rather plaintively where the employment land was for the larger town. It appears planners had’nt really got to grips with that (though, of course, Skypark down the road and the abandoned inter-modal freight site are deserts waiting for rain),
Lower prices are better for us, not good for developers. Who does EDDC support?
Wonder what Mr Thickett thought of that?
He seems increasingly fed up with his visits to East Devon to try to sort things out – might he be ready to throw in the towel and rip the Local Plan up?
If he did the developer free-for-all will continue for years. That surely is not what East Devon Tory councillors want.
Electoral Commission targets for voter registration – Mr Williams is no doubt working on these targets as we write! Hmmm.
On-going work to get people registered to vote
The Electoral Commission will run campaigns ahead of the elections in May 2016 to encourage people to register and to make the registers more accurate and complete. In Scotland, a specific campaign to encourage 15 – 17 year olds to register to vote will coincide with the canvass.
Attainers (16 and 17 year olds)
Polling Stations
We hear from a correspondent that EDDC did not make a review of polling stations before the last election – this was a mandatory task which should have been completed, put out for public consultation and agreed formally at Council well before the election. Here is how Dorset explained it:, which applies to all councils:
It seems the Electoral Commission has informed EDDC that it must not wait any longer to conduct such a review and it MUST be started in July 2015. A number of polling stations are no longer fit-for-purpose as regards facilities for disabled people and consideration will need to be given to polling stations that may give rise to perceived conflict with councillor interests. Watch this space.
The requirements:
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/electoral-administrator/polling-place-reviews?
Here is how you appeal if you think a particular polling station does not meet requirements:
From Electoral Commission reports below:
“In contrast, in East Devon, where the challenges are different, there has been an increase in the number of entries on the register. The ERO has attributed this to the success of making visits to non-responding properties and individuals, which were carried out across the area in 2014 for the first time since 2010.”
Many will recall the very successful East Devon Watch campaign that resulted in many, many extra voters being added to the electoral roll prior to the elections in May this year. Our CEO and Electoral Officer, Mark Williams was summonsed to Parliament in December 2014 to be grilled on why East Devon’s total electorate had falled spectacularly between 2010 and 2014.
Mr Williams maintained that it wasn’t so bad and that he had made the executive decision that simply telephoning potential voters was good enough, despite a ruling that all missing voters should receive personal household visits – now it seems from the above that he has done a complete about-turn! He memorably said that this would be much too dangerous in a dark and wintry East Devon – something which cut no ice at the hearing and must have been a bit puzzling to those canvassers out in Cumbria, Scotland and the like – not to mention London!
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2014/11/09/those-missing-voters-and-telephone-canvassing/
The Electoral Commission took a very keen interest in East Devon with the result that some 20 or so canvassers were hurriedly recruited in time for the elections, though little else by way of voter encouragement was offered, despite a large budget for election expenses.
Now the Electoral Commission has brought out reports on things as they were in December 2014 and East Devon is mentioned specifically several times (see quote at top of article).
It is noted that AFTER EDW’s campaign, EDDC’s Electoral Register jumped FIVE PER CENT! That’s 4,665 electors that Mr Williams appears not to have been able to contact by telephone between 2010 and 2014!
The Government wanted the Electoral Commission to end its work promoting voter registration by the end of 2015 [possibly due to the SNP effect it isn’t keen to see Scottish registration improve?] but, citing East Devon and other councils, the Electoral Commission says it is essential that it continues until the end of 2016. The report is HERE and cites report in justification HERE:
Dear Hugo Swire
In a Western Morning News interview with Phil Goodwin, published online on 1st May 2015, you state, “There is no doubt that Claire Wright and the EDA are one and the same – I don’t know how they manage to say they are independent when it is a registered party”.
We would be grateful if you now desist in attempting to influence the District Council election with this misinformation. I am Chairman of the East Devon Alliance and whether you are or are not returned as the member for East Devon to Parliament is of no matter to me, my vice chairman, treasurer or communications director. None of us live in your former constituency.
If you visit our website and read our extensive literature – indeed, watch our videos – your name does not occur once. We have taken great pains to defend ourselves from the moment when someone such as you casually concocts the canard that Mrs Wright and we are co-campaigners with the intent of denigrating both her and us.
It would be worth your taking the time to properly research your subject. As Independents we have allied under an umbrella because many of your operatives in the local Conservative party in East Devon are unfit to wear the national rosette. Standing as an Independent in very many of the towns and villages is to be the subject of tactics unfit for our nation’s political life. In the self-evident lack of public faith in East Devon District Council – well-known matters which you have disdained to engage with – is the epitome of our failing democracy. Our alliance is precisely how it will be rebuilt, and it is at moments such as this that we can defend ourselves from untruths such as yours. What is the East Devon Alliance but a manifestation of the Localism your party professes to support?
Your sources should have told you – as could the Electoral Commission – that we specifically chose to register with them in the category of groups precluded from campaigning in national elections. I have not spoken for Mrs Wright or even seen her campaign literature; I live in Colyton, on the eastern edge of Neil Parish’s patch. I have not attended any of your joint hustings, being too busy with the district election.
I am aware, however, that she has consistently tried to address the well-recorded problems at EDDC with courage and determination. If you had bothered to attend any of the meetings at which she was shouted down by the sexist goons on the Conservative side I like to think you may have been alerted to the public disgust with them – and with your party in the District – rather sooner, and that you would have been man enough to intervene.
To conclude, we are not “one and the same”, and we are registered as a party because despite 5 years to do so your government has not found the time to move on with recommendations emerging from select committees that local campaigning groups such as us should not, of course, have to register centrally at the Electoral Commission. Please desist from making false statements about us and fight your own battles rather than those of your district underlings who, you must surely realise, have done so much to have created your current predicament.
Signed Paul Arnott
eastdevonalliance.org.uk
The job is SEPARATE to any other post and each Returning Officer receives a fee for doing the job (often in excess of £20,000 per election) and a budget. It seems Mr Williams had a budget of more than £121,000 in 2010 to run this procedure:
“The specified services are—
(a)conducting the election;
(b)discharging the returning officer’s duties at the election; and
(c)making arrangements for the election.”
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/830/made
He got it wrong in 2011 too:
Here are the Performance Standards for Returning Officers – standard 1 on page 12 appears to have been breached:
Click to access Part-A-Returning-Officer-role-and-responsibilities.pdf
The explanation:
“All the District Elections and Town/Parish Council elections are administered by the Returning Officer for the relevant Constituency up until after the Constituency votes have been separated from the District and Town/Parish votes and the number of votes cast and spoilt papers, etc. has been reconciled with the Polling Station or postal voting accounts. At that point, the District and Town/Council votes are re-sealed into ballot boxes and transported to the relevant District Council on Friday 8th May for counting by the Returning Officer (Mark Williams) for the East Devon District Council.
So the postal voting instructions for East Devon Constituency were prepared by Mark Williams. The postal voting instructions for Tiverton and Honiton were prepared by Mid Devon Returning Officer and the postal voting instructions for Central Devon Constituency were prepared by West Devon Returning Officer.
So, it seems only Mark Williams (who has been the Returning Officer for East Devon for at least 9 years and maybe longer) made mistakes in the postal voting instructions. Therefore, the correction letter is only going to the multi-seat wards within the East Devon Constituency.
Mr Williams has presumably been the Returning Officer since he started at East Devon District Council – we are not sure how long he has been CEO and Returning Officer but we have traced it back to at least 2006!
Good to see a member of the judiciary recognises this problem, even if political parties and the police don’t:
“Last year Mawrey repeated his warning that postal voting enabled electoral cheating on an “industrial scale”. …
…”Challenges should be governed by simpler, modern and less formal rules of procedure allowing judges to achieve justice in the case while having regard to the balance between access and certainty,” it proposes. …
” … In his 200-page judgment on Rahman, Mawrey pointed out that although the election court is a civil hearing, “the criminal standard of proof, namely proof beyond reasonable doubt” is applied. Candidates, unless “a mitigating factor is established”, are deemed responsible for the acts and omissions of their agents. …
“Dr Toby James, senior lecturer in politics at the University of East Anglia and author of Elite Statecraft and Election Administration, said the long delay between last May’s mayoral vote in the east London borough and the election court’s ruling this week highlighted the need for a more speedy resolution process in electoral disputes.
“Imagine what would happen after the general election in two weeks’ time when you have disputes arising from a couple of constituencies and very close party results,” he told the Guardian. “It’s a Victorian procedure. Election justice should be quicker and then we would see if there’s more signs of fraud.”
From a reader:
For info, a neighbour of mine emailed the electoral services to check he was eligible to vote… he was told that he was on the register to vote, the only thing is…..
They got his name completely wrong…. nobody of that name has ever lived at his address….. I have advised him to phone…
This is very worrying…
To check your registration entry (or to register)contact the Electoral Registration Team on 01395 517402 or at electoralservices@eastdevon.gov.uk
The Full Council meeting at Knowle this week, opened with a warm tribute to District and County Councillor Derek Button, who died last month. Representing the people of Broadclyst, he was strongly opposed to the massive development nearby at Cranbrook. And many Councillors listening to the acknowledgements of Derek Button’s dedication to his electors’ concerns, will have recalled his courage in standing up against what he saw as irregular planning matters. He was one of the three Liberal Democrat members of the Development Management Committee (DMC) who temporarily resigned in protest over alleged procedural irregularities in the Waldron’s Farm case. The Ombudsman found no evidence of anything untoward, however, and the controversy lingers on. More info here: https://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/waldrons-farm-application-stirs-bitter-memories/
And those following the Task and Finish Forum set up to do an “in-depth report” into EDDC’s relationship with the group then known as the East Devon Business Forum, would also remember Cllr Button’s part in trying to progress this so-called Business TAFF, which never pursued its original aim. See the voting recorded here: http://saveoursidmouth.com/2013/03/29/planning-issues-are-within-the-scope-of-the-business-taff/
As Council Leader Paul Diviani put it, in a tribute in the Midweek Herald (27 Jan 2015), Derek Button’s colleagues “will mourn the loss of a good man”. http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDEQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.midweekherald.co.uk%2Fnews%2Ftributes_paid_to_respected_east_devon_district_councillor_1_3935704&ei=CGHwVOn3KML3UoWHgYgL&usg=AFQjCNESXXA6c5muF1a_V-2EscfoUkUD7w&bvm=bv.87269000,d.d24
Our long- running campaign (Sidmouth Independent News, EDA former blog, then this blog) has – with little thanks to EDDC – ensured that our district has at last caught up with most of the 6,000 voters missing from the electoral register in 2014 – a misfortune that got our CEO and Electoral Returning Officer, Mark Williams, hauled before the Parliamentary Commission on Voter Engagement to explain. Rather unsatisfactorily.
In its most recent report: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/182375/Analysis-of-the-December-2014-electoral-registers-in-England-and-Wales.pdf
the Electoral Commission has this to say about East Devon, key paragraph:
“In contrast, in East Devon, where the challenges are different, there hjas been an increase in the number of entries on the register. The ERO has attributed this to the success of making visits to non-responding properties and individuals, which were carried out across the area in 2014 for the first time since 2010.”
In other words, Mark Williams has effectively admitted that, had he carried our doorstep canvassing as he was required to do between 2010 and 2014, rather than trying to cut corners (for whatever reason) then most of the missing voters would have almost certainly been registered in that period.
This could well have affected the outcome of European elections in East Devon and, had these voters not made it on to the register, the outcome of district and Parliamentary Elections in May 2015. An election where results may hinge on only scores or hundreds of votes.
Next on the agenda to fix – Households of Multiple Occupation.
Full story, Page 6, Sidmouth Herald: Development blueprint suffers further setback
Our comment:
Why the delay? Councils need to show that they have co-operated with but not necessarily agreed with) adjacent authorities.
For us this means Exeter (and inevitably mopping up some of their housing need) and West Dorset – but EDDC decided, for no obvious reason, to add Mid- Devon, Teignbridge AND Dartmoor National Park into the mix. So we have to take into account the needs of Dartmoor National Park where almost no new building is allowed! Still, Exeter and Dartmoor have ex-EDDC planners at the helm, both of whom were very enthusiastic supporters of the East Devon Business Forum, so it will make for nice cosy chats.
AND Teignbridge and East Devon CEOs know each other well – having both been dragged before a Parliamentary Committee on Voter Engagement in December 2014 to explain why they had not been registering voters in their areas. Perhaps they shared a first-class railway carriage there and back!
The Planning Inspector who threw out the first draft Local Plan in March 2014 anticipated a re-hearing in October 2014 and cleared his diary in anticipation.
Looks like it won’t be going in his 2015 diary either.
The £750,000 already spent on relocation consultants (the figure not including officer time) could have had this wrapped up within the Inspector’s timeframe.
What was it Councillor Halse said about relocation: the council had “fallen flat on its face”? Seems to be making a habit of it.
East Devon Watch 