The Committee received a report that provided an update on preparations for the General Election in May. The Committee considered staff training, the development of a local protocol and the importance of a secure email account to allow concerns, including possible fraudulent activity, to be raised.  The main points of the discussion on this report are outlined below:

The Committee noted that:

·        The election petition case had started on February 2, 2015 at the Royal Courts of Justice and was advised that all of the allegations made by the Petitioners against the Acting Returning Officer and his staff had been withdrawn.

·        The role of Acting Returning Officer is politically neutral and that his only objective is to ensure that the election is administered fully in accordance with the law.

• The Acting Returning Officer had been in regular contact with officers of the Electoral Commission concerning the plans for May 2015 and in particular the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations in its report about the count in Tower Hamlets of May 2014. The Committee was advised that the Commission’s officers had stated that they are satisfied with progress and the plans in place. In addition, Tower Hamlets had again in 2015 been selected by the Electoral Commission as one of the authorities to provide more detailed monitoring of the election planning process in connection with the national Acting Returning Officer performance standards monitoring process. As part of this process the Commission had been provided with the Acting Returning Officer’s election planner document and contingency/risk register. These documents set out the key actions and milestones required in the work to prepare for the elections, together with identified risks and contingency measures to address these.
• In recent years the Acting Returning Officer had arranged for delivery of postal votes by Royal Mail in preference to Council-employed canvassers and that in consultation with the Royal Mail consideration was being given to the method of delivery of postal vote packs so as to ensure the maximum security of the process.
• The Acting Returning Officer intends once again to put in place a dedicated and secure e-mail account for any complaints or concerns about possible fraudulent activity. Any messages to that secure account will be processed within a stated period and if there is any suggestion that an offence may have been committed it will be referred without delay to the Police Single Point of Contact.  In addition, the electorate will be made aware that this dedicated account is a secure one.
• If there is any increase in requests for postal votes from a given area they will be investigated and the Acting Returning Officer and his Team who have the capacity to address any such concerns.
• With regard to the combined elections in May 2014, the Acting Returning Officer and the Metropolitan Police, with the support of the Electoral Commission, published a Local Protocol setting out a range of measures designed to ensure the integrity of the elections and respond to any allegations of fraud or malpractice in a timely and effective fashion. The local political parties had been invited to sign up to the protocol, which included a number of commitments in relation to standards of conduct by candidates, campaigners and others.
• With regard to the collection of postal votes and voter impersonation training is to be undertaken for those LBTH and MPS officers working in polling stations looking at how to address challenges and situations that might arise on the day.
• The Electoral Commission’s new code of conduct refers to collecting postal votes for other voters. 
• Impersonation is an offence and Acting Returning Officer and his Team are looking at ways to minimise that possibility.

Action by:

John S Williams (Acting Returning Officer and Service Head, Democratic Services)