Issue - meetings
Post Election Polling Places Review 2021
Meeting: 05/10/2021 - General Purposes Committee (Item 4)
4 Post Election Polling Places Review 2021 PDF 346 KB
Additional documents:
- GPC - Polling Places Review App 1, item 4 PDF 246 KB
- GPC - Polling Places Review App 2a, item 4 PDF 205 KB
- GPC - Polling Places Review App 2b, item 4 PDF 212 KB
- Webcast for Post Election Polling Places Review 2021
Minutes:
Robert Curtis, Head of Elections, introduced the report which set out the review of polling places following the elections in May 2021. He explained that an informal/formal review took place after every election in the borough and if deemed necessary, amendments to polling places are brought to the General Purposes Committee for consideration and then to full Council for approval.
Mr Curtis highlighted that this was not a statutory review, as that occurred every 5 years and last took place in 2019 and a decision was then made in January 2020 to approve amendments to existing polling places. It was noted that this was essentially a voluntary post-election review undertaken at the behest of the Returning Officer to review the current situation following a number of changes that had occurred over the last 18 months to two years. Mr Curtis referred Members to the appendices in the report detailing the changes that have been implemented and those that were not implemented from the previous review.
It was noted that the review would take place over a period of six weeks and had commenced on 20th September and would continue until 29th October 2021. The review would enable any changes to be agreed and in place prior to the local elections scheduled for May 2022. As part of the review consultation, 53 disabled organisations in the borough, the existing polling places and Councillors had been written to for their comments on the existing polling places that used during elections. It was noted that all responses would be collated at the end of the review process and recommendations from the Returning Officer would then be reported back to the next GP Committee meeting with a view of taking the report to Full Council in January 2022 for a decision in time for any changes to be implemented before the elections in May 2022.
In response to a question Mr Curtis explained the consultation process used during the review, the timetable set for the review and the accessibility requirements that are taken into account when assessing polling places.
Accordingly, the General Purposes Committee;
RESOLVED
1. The report be noted.