Election watchdog launches Warrington poll inquiry

Jun 12 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

A WATCHDOG will visit Warrington next month to investigate the “incompetence” that an MP claims brought the local elections into disrepute.

The Electoral Commission, which is responsible for the smooth running of all polls, will examine what went wrong in the run-up to May 1, after a long list of mistakes were revealed.

The inquiry could result in Warrington Borough Council being ordered to seek help from other local authorities to ensure the mishaps are not repeated.

It was revealed after Helen Jones, Labour MP for Warrington North, staged a Commons debate to urge the Government to step into the row over the “shambles”.

Among the gaffes Ms Jones highlighted were:

* Polling stations in the wrong place, after the council failed to consult political parties on locations.

* Voters, particularly in Mee Brow ward, forced to walk a long distance to reach one.

* A failure to change the council’s website, which still showed polling stations in their original positions,

* A failure to deliver polling cards in the wards of Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft, and Penketh and Cuerdley.

* Leaflets delivered in the wrong areas, which meant some Penketh voters went to the wrong polling station – and were turned away.

* Postal voting forms delivered only one day before the election – with some not delivered at all in Poplars and Hulme ward.

* No disabled access at some polling stations, with one voter told: “We haven’t got enough ramps.”

* Bundles of votes poorly secured at the count, which meant they frequently fell apart.

* Candidates not told results before they were announced, preventing them requesting a recount.

Ms Jones told MPs: “The organisation of the localelections in Warrington this year revealed both an astonishing degree of incompetence and a disregard for the basic principles of democracy that was frankly breathtaking.

“I believe the shambles that we saw in Warrington in these local elections needs to be properly investigated and we need to take steps to ensure that it does not happen again.”

In reply, justice minister Bridget Prentice revealed the Electoral Commission would visit Warrington next month, congratulating Ms Jones for raising “a matter of grave concern”.

The minister said she had been told “the count went smoothly and that the votes were properly counted and the correct people were elected”.

But, she added: “The effective delivery of an election goes to the heart of and underpins our healthy democracy – the principles of democracy.

“If half the things my honourable friend has described turn out to be true, serious concerns will have been raised and a shadow cast over Warrington’s electoral services.

“The Electoral Commission has the ability to implement performance standards, and I hope that it will carefully examine what happened in Warrington in its review.”