Dear Charles Fiterman,
I sent your questions on UK elections to David Marsay. Below is his
answers.
Donald
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---------- Forwarded Letter -----------
Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "David Marsay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (New Democracy)
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 14:15:53 +0000
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: Re: Questions on UK elections
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Priority: normal
I guess you've had a response by now, so I'll be brief.
My answer is for England. Northern Ireland is different. I'm not sure
about Wales or Scotland.
> How automated are your systems? What do they look like?
We have one ballot paper per election. Using one election at a time.
The most I can recall is 3.
For general elections we put an X in the box against our chosen
candidate. If multiple candidates are to be elected (e.g., a local
council) then we have a quota of Xs, 1 per 'slot'.
Papers are counted manually at a central point. For single-'slot'
elections they are put into piles. I do not know about multi-'slot'
elections, but as far as I know they have small electorates.
I think the polls close about 9. Counting takes about 2 to 12 hours.
There have been problems with very close elections and multiple
recounts, but I don't know what the record is.
People generally have confidence in this part of the system. You will
see that UK thinking on election counting is conditioned by the
technology used!
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Sorry folks, but apparently I have to do this. :-(
The views expressed above are entirely those of the writer
and do not represent the views, policy or understanding of
any other person or official body.
