Agenda item

It is recommended that Corporate Committee:

Approves the polling scheme describing the polling districts and the polling places for the London Borough of Haringey as set out in Appendix 1.

Grants the (Acting) Returning Officer ((A)RO) and the Deputy (Acting) Returning Officers delegated authority to amend the polling scheme where the names of buildings change and for specific elections where strictly necessary for a particular election, including changing polling places.

Delegates to the Electoral Registration Officer (“ERO”) the authority to approve correction of any minor errors in allocating properties to districts on transferring the maps in Appendix 1 into the electoral registration software

Mr Mark Stevens, Assistant Director, Direct Services, presented the report. 

The Committee heard that:

·      There had been a substantial change from 19 wards to 21 wards for the May 2022 local elections The new wards were set by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

·      The Council then took decisions, based on the practicalities of capturing the population distribution in the most balanced way possible, making sure all areas of the population had accessible properties to use as polling stations.

·      Some of the polling places were no longer appropriate for the revised wards leading to the issue of residents attempting to vote in the incorrect location, out of habit. This had been exacerbated by having some polling stations just outside of the zones where people were supposed to be voting.

·      A large quantity of pre-election communication work was done and there was an all-party member working group set up for the original review process. There was a total of 12 councillors in total to ensure that all formal processes had been met.

·      A communications plan was put together to ensure that the messaging was delivered. Every single poling card had clear instructions regarding which polling stations electors should attend, but some individuals ended up going to the wrong station.

·      Efforts were made to ensure that suitable buildings were used for people to go to.

·      Efforts were made to reduce walking time for areas such as Muswell Hill which could be difficult for pedestrians walk up.

·      It would be very difficult to put a poster up on a previous polling station indicating the change to a new polling station as it was not always a direct and consistent change for all residents using a particular polling station.

·      The items needed to be taken by residents attempting to vote would change as voter ID would be implemented in the future. This would result in further messaging that would need to be distributed to residents. An all-member briefing would be given and detailed information be distributed to all the relevant channels, including councillors.

·      It was not yet clear how residents or voting habits would be affected by the new voter ID requirements.

·      More resilient signage will be put in place for future elections to accommodate weather-based difficulties.

The Committee expressed that:

·      There had been some voting issues in Alexandra Ward, possibly resulting in several voters who ended up not voting. An overreliance on polling cards was not a good idea as many voters did not bring them.

·      It would be useful to ask residents how they felt about their polling stations particularly how far away they felt they were from their polling station.

RESOLVED:

1.    To approve the polling scheme describing the polling districts and the polling places for the London Borough of Haringey as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

2.    To grant the (Acting) Returning Officer ((A)RO) and the Deputy (Acting) Returning Officers delegated authority to amend the polling scheme where the names of buildings change and for specific elections where strictly necessary for a particular election, including changing polling places.

3.    To delegate to the Electoral Registration Officer (“ERO”) the authority to approve correction of any minor errors in allocating properties to districts on transferring the maps in Appendix 1 into the electoral registration software.