Wrong candidate elected to council

AT least one candidate in the May elections at Warrington was elected due to an arithmetical error, a six month investigation has established.
A number of candidates were denied the opportunity to ask for recounts – and in one case it could have resulted in a different result.
Now a 57-page report is to be presented to the borough council on Monday – with seven recommendations for changes in election procedures before the next elections.
These are the European elections to be held in June.
The investigation was carried out by John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators and a former Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for the City of Norwich.
He will present his report and recommendations to the council.
Mr Turner was asked to investigate the borough and parish council elections at Warrington last May by the Returning Officer, Diana Terris (pictured) after a number of complaints about the conduct of the elections.
These came from candidates, councillors, Warrington North MP Helen Jones and members of the public.
Mr Turner carried out 66 interviews with 59 different people in the course of his investigation, which started in July.
He found a number of issues relating to a decision to outsource the printing of all election documents, including postal votes, poll cards and ballot papers.
There were also problems relating to polling stations and the election count.
Well established processes were not followed, said Mr Turner, resulting in a total of 188 people being disenfranchised.
These were people who applied late for postal votes.
There were also complaints from people that they had not received poll cards and although the council circulated a leaflet in the areas affected, this was not a satisfactory solution. It would have been better to issue duplicate poll cards.
There was very little complaint about the conduct of the borough council elections.
But the largest single number of complaints received related to the parish elections count.
Mr Turner is critical of the decision to hold the borough and parish counts on the same night in the same venue – Woolston Leisure Centre.
Parish candidates were not notified of the provisional result, which meant they were unable to ask for a recount.
Complaints were received from Appleton, Burtonwood and Westbrook, Culcheth and Glazebury, Poulton with Fearnhead and Stockton Heath.
At Poulton, an error in the arithmetic resulted in a candidate who should have been elected being superseded by one who should not have been elected.
At Stockton Heath, a candidate who received only three votes less than a successful candidate did not have the opportunity to ask for a recount.
The correct result would, as a result, never be known..
Mr Turner stresses that he has investigated numerous elections and would be surprised if he ever found one without any problems. He praises Diana Terris for her courage in inviting him in to investigate.
He also praises Town Hall staff for work “far beyond the call of duty” on the night, without which there could have been more problems.
Electoral law does not allow any action even in the case where it has been established that the wrong candidate was elected. Appeals had to be made within 21 days – and none were made.