Fucksake. If the BBC's right then not only have several constituencies potentially invalidated their vote by staying open longerthan 10pm, but the law is a shit. Frankly.
Oh, no argument it's a complete mess. I do want to know what the actual law is, if there is any even. If one reads the 2007 judgement on electoral fraud in Slough the Judge's comments on the clarity of the election laws are all negative so I would not be surprised to find that the rules on when to close a polling station are ill-defined.
The claim from the ones that shut - that taking the votes after 10pm would be illegal - was incorrect.
Yes, what is the cite for this? The Representation of the People Act 1983 is the relevant piece of legislation, and it doesn't contain anything about returning officers' discretion.
I feel a bit shit as I made a narky tweet earlier about how the booths were open from 7am this morning and that most were empty all day so why are people turning up so late to vote, but then I realised just how terribly under-resourced some of these polling stations are. So many people unable to vote with so much going on. And I thought of Denny when I heard about Hackney...
The BBC coverage is so depressing. The unbelievable chaos of so many people being unable to vote and pundit bafflement at lack of patterns in the results so far, interspersed with utterly inane celebrity comments from a boat party.
I feel lucky to have been able to vote, which is a total disgrace. It's a right, not a privilege!
"I don't know how much longer I'm going to stay awake. This feels like the issues with the polling machines when Bush got re-elected. We have people in other countries as election officials and this is fucking disgusting. Where are the UN election observers?"
Comments 22
Got a site to the relevant bit of law?
Reply
This is a bloody mess.
Reply
Reply
-Doing the right thing
-Breaking the law
Complete shambles. I imagine whatever coalition forms won't last long though, so we'll have a new election soon?
Reply
Yes, what is the cite for this? The Representation of the People Act 1983 is the relevant piece of legislation, and it doesn't contain anything about returning officers' discretion.
Reply
Reply
I do however echo the view that this is a terrible mess.
Reply
Reply
Reply
I feel lucky to have been able to vote, which is a total disgrace. It's a right, not a privilege!
Reply
We have a team observing us from the Commonwealth, actually: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8660581.stm
Reply
Leave a comment