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Preparing for and Conducting Election Day:. Systems and Logistics. John Bennett Greater London Returning Officer. Conducting elections. Planning Preparation Public awareness and voter education Absent voting Poll Count Review. Role of technology. Consider – What we use
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Preparing for and Conducting Election Day: Systems and Logistics John Bennett Greater London Returning Officer
Conducting elections • Planning • Preparation • Public awareness and voter education • Absent voting • Poll • Count • Review
Role of technology • Consider – • What we use • What is possible • What we aspire to in the near future
Law Commission: 11th Programme of Law Reform • Election rules • Different sets of rules for each type of election • Inconsistencies or duplications • Election offences • Criminal law or public law • Criminal court, judicial review or statutory appeal • Amending legislation • Primary or secondary • Synchronising with the devolved institutions • Technology • Legislation pre-dates technological advances
Technology – getting ready • Planning • Scheduling • Dependencies • Prompts • Reports to SRO • Public awareness and voter education • Print and broadcast media • Going digital – push / pull • Website, Youtube • Facebook, Twitter, texting
GLA elections 2008 - the communications campaign 4 main strands • Advertising • Mayoral address booklet • PR and media liaison • Website / digital
Pilot activity • “Traditional” • Street teams • Polish, Chinese and African communities • Electoral Commission targeted students • ‘Mark’. • Mobile phones • Text message platform • Polling station finder service
Results • 2.6 million page views of website • Registration increased 151,000 • Turnout increased 500,000 (+25%) • Spoiled ballots reduced c.50% • Awareness of campaign very high in post- election research (c.55%)
Technology – delivering the project • Preparation • Registration Voter lists / poll cards • Nominations Ballot paper design • Staffing Ballot paper allocations • Absent voting • Voter lists Recording returns • Checking PVSs • Poll • Voter lists Communication
Electoral challenges • Biggest single electoral event in UK • 5.8m electors • Most diverse electorate in the world. • 200+ languages spoken • Some communities relatively isolated • Lowest voter registration in UK • Low turnout (up from 37% in 2004 to 45% in 2008)) • 3 different voting systems (3 papers, 4 votes) • 3,800 polling stations, 12,000 staff • 650,000 postal votes
Technology – making it count • Manual counting of ballot papers • Checking BPAs • Verification • Calculation of results • Publishing results • Electronic counting of ballot papers • Full service • Speed with accuracy • Detailed data
Technology – when it’s over • Review • Validation of results (if needed) • Library of raw data • Analysis for forward planning
A wish-list for the future • Online registration • Adding to or amending the voter list • Applying for absent or proxy vote • Remote electronic voting • Part of multi-channel voting programme • Vote anywhere • Real-time validation of voter ID • Avoidance of rejected ballot papers
What we would need for REV • Security • Better protection for online systems (hacking, DoSA) • Secure storage of personal data • Confidence • User assurance • Public acceptance • Enablement • Legislation • Funding
Review • Are we using technology securely? • Are we using technology effectively? • Are we using technology as much as we could? • How far and how fast should we extend the use of technology?
Questions? John Bennett Greater London Returning Officer Greater London Authority 020 7983 4203 john.bennett@london.gov.uk www.londonelects.org.uk