Issue - meetings

The report reviews the arrangements for the Elections which took place on 2 May and 4 July 2024.   It provides information, feedback and considers lessons learned.

The Electoral Services Manager presented the report where she advised that the elections held in 2024 were the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) on 2 May 2024 and the Snap General Election on 4 July 2024. Despite the short timescales around the Snap General Election all process were completed successfully and on time and very few complaints were received. She explained that due to the issues that had been seen with electors Postal Packs being received via delivery from Royal Mail it was decided that the team would hand deliver these across the District, this was a much more reliable way for electors to receive their votes in a timely manner as well as being cost effective for the council, this was also carried out for the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency for the Snap General Election.

          For both of these elections the team trialled different count venues, for the PCC election the Civic Centre, Committee Suite as a verification and count venue, which worked very well, so for more simple and lower-turnout elections this venue could be used as a contingency venue in the future. For the Snap General Election, the Littlehampton Wave was trialled as an alternative to the Arun Leisure Centre. This again worked well and lots of positive feedback was received for use of this venue, so the council is likely to use this venue again. Both counts were concluded successfully and within the expected timeframes. 

          She stated that communication was key for both elections, specifically for the important deadlines that were required to be met, voter ID which was used again, and the introduction of the new postal pack return procedures from the Elections Act 2022. She advised that staffing was a struggle for the Snap General Election due to the short notice and timing of the Poll, as a lot of staff were away on holiday or otherwise unavailable. A decision had now been made to reduce the number of Poll Clerks used in future elections to aid with this issue but also due to the use of iPad system that is now used meant that less staff were now required, however there would be an increase in use of more part-time Poll Clerks for busier Polling Stations.  The use of iPads also allowed for better recording of turnout figures and patterns that would be used for future elections.

          The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Bower and seconded by Councillor O’Neill.

          Members were then invited to make any comments and or ask any questions by the Vice-Chair, where it was asked if there had been any issued relating to Voter ID with both of these elections in comparison to when it was first introduced. The Electoral Services Manager confirmed that the number of issues experienced with Voter ID had decreased and this was due to the information being communicated to electors, there were always a few electors recorded as having turned up without their ID but the majority of these electors return to complete  ...  view the full minutes text for item 522