At the next General Election

[trapped]

Will you start to queue 4 hours earlier to make sure you get a vote ????

[stonekicker]

i blame people not getting to vote on leaving it to the last minute. people had from 7am (or was it 6?) until ten at night to vote. that's at least 13hours. there's no way queues that we saw were like that throughout the day silly beggars x

[craft1948]

I voted about 11 am with all the other twirlies...............

[netibiza]

What with £750 being bandied about as comp ? I'll miss it!

[caslass]

I voted at 2.30pm and the place was empty.

[cazzz1975]

maybe they will get their @rses in gear a bit earlier next time

[trapped]

stonekicker You class joining a queue at 7-35 pm as last minute ????

[cazzz1975]

and make sure they bring their polling cards, they are sent to the house for a reason..

[stonekicker]

trapped - yup. i'm an early bird. voted in my work break at 11 to ensure i got it out the way asap. four hours of queueing does take the rise though - that clearly demonstrates a few planning issues! x

[askyourgran]

We had a postal vote this year, although I think they are open to fraud.

[stonekicker]

the whole system is open to fraud - it relies on a household to declare who is eligible to vote and you can put anything and the polling cards will be delivered. i do it under an assumed name as i am hiding from family members and in-laws (we've had to move 4 times to avoid harrassment from both sides). but at least i remain honest that there are only two people old enough to vote in my family x

[LadyMelina]

I think you have to be logical about this. These queues were in cities with higher populations. Of course, you would not expect to queue going on recent local, by or borough elections turnouts, but neither should you go to your local supermarket at 3.50pm on a Sunday and expect to do your weeks shopping. These people were within their rights to turn up and cast their vote, it was just unfortunate that so many other people turned up at the same time which resulted in long queues. The turnout wasnt estimated going by previous elections, i.e apathy, but the doors still have to shut at 10.00pm. The electorate are given 15 hours in which to vote. A lesson has been learned. Regarding running out of ballot papers and no tables, there is no excuse. Bad Returning Officers of that particualar council.

[trapped]

In Chester more than 600 people were unable to vote because the electoral list had not been updated and Labour won on a majority of 549.

Lawyers claimed that people who were unable to vote may be able to claim compensation and challenge outcomes in marginal constituencies.

Dr Bob Watt, an election law expert at the University of Essex, said: "It is beyond doubt that if a larger number of people than the margin were prevented from voting and this could be shown to be the fault of the election officials that any petition would succeed."

[LadyMelina]

To Cazz 1975

Yes u r sent a polling card but you do not need it to vote. If you forget it you just give
your name and address to the pollling clerks inside the polling station and you will be issued with a ballot paper.

[cazzz1975]

thats all very nice but the card saves time (the code they need is easily visible on the card) rather than going through lists of addresses.

It doesnt hurt to bring it if you can.

[NoMercy]

Craft... is that your little rescue dog in your avatar?

What a beauty !!

[craft1948]

Yes it is NoM......thank you.