CORRECTION: Should May’s election count be held in Thame?

20/01/14  CORRECTION: THAME Town Councillors voted AGAINST a recommendation to have the election count carried out centrally at Abingdon, after a long discussion about  whether the count for the local elections in May, should take place within the town, or carried out in Abingdon, at the same time as the count for the General and district elections.

South Oxfordshire District Council, which is responsible for organising and over-seeing elections, has recommended that the Thame local elections counting of votes happens in Abingdon but some town councillors think that it would be more democratic and succesful if it were to happen here in the town.

Back in 2011 the count for the election was described as ‘a shambles’ after 2,000 residents were rendered illegible to take part in the elections for new district councillors, and for the Alternative Vote referendum, because they did not receive voting papers. The Chief Executive of South Oxfordshire District Council, David Buckle, forfeited his fee as Returning Officer after being personally criticised for his part in the organisation. See: LINK https://www.thame.net/archives/7215

The counts for town/parish elections are more complex and time consuming due to the number of potential candidates and are undertaken in alphabetical order if counted centrally. If the responsibility for the count is devolved to local town and parish councils, the process will be completed more quickly and the results will be known sooner than if the count is done centrally. But there would be a cost to the local councils if they oversaw the counts.

At its meeting on Tuesday, January 13, Thame Town Council agreed to ask SODC for more details about the possible costs to Thame, and the surrounding villages who would share the cost, if the count was to take place locally, although it was pointed out by Cllr David Bretherton, who is also a District Councillor,  that the total costs cannot be not known until after the event.