News releases

The Electoral Commission, the independent elections watchdog, has today published its statutory report on the administration of the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May 2011. The election took place on the same day as elections to the 26 local councils and the UK-wide referendum on the UK Parliamentary voting system.

The report finds that while polling day was largely managed successfully there were problems with completing the Assembly and referendum counts in a timely manner on 6 and 7 May. Poor planning, insufficient communication and the lack of an overall management plan for the count have been identified as the main reasons for the delays occurring. Other factors which added to the delays included:

• The late issuing of guidance from the Chief Electoral Officer to deputy returning officers on managing the count
• Poor staff training on the combined polls
• The suitability of some count venues
• The poor quality of paperwork returned by some presiding officers
• The failure of a number of staff to turn up at some count venues
• Staff who managed the counts suffering from fatigue

Despite turnout being the lowest yet for an Assembly election, the report shows that over 11,000 new names were added to the electoral register and over 5,600 people updated their details in the run-up to polling day.  This increase was largely the result of a direction from the Chief Counting Officer for the referendum that polls cards be issued earlier. It also led to the highest number of people registered to vote in Northern Ireland since the introduction of individual electoral registration in 2002.

Séamus Magee, Head of the Electoral Commission’s office in Northern Ireland, said:

“The elections produced results that were accepted and voters’ experience was generally positive. There was sufficient funding and resources in place for the delivery of the combined polls in May 2011 and while the registration process and the overall conduct of polling was a success it is disappointing that the same attention was not put into the management of the count”

The report makes a number of recommendations for improving electoral services in Northern Ireland and calls for greater accountability over the management of elections in Northern Ireland. Currently the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is the only Returning Officer in the UK who does not have to report against independent performance standards.

The report states that a consistently high level of service for voters in Northern Ireland is important and performance standards are an essential tool in ensuring that. The importance of consistency for voters in elections and referendums was also picked up in the Commission’s UK-wide report on the Parliamentary voting systems referendum published earlier this week.

“Voters in Northern Ireland have the right to expect the same high standard of electoral services as their counterparts in Great Britain. We are calling on the UK government to ensure that appropriate performance standards are put in place in Northern Ireland so that meaningful comparisons can be made.  Consideration should also be given to looking at what else can be done to give voters and their elected representatives more say on how the electoral process is managed in Northern Ireland”.

“We are pleased to note that the Chief Electoral Officer has already given a commitment to carrying out a full review of the management of elections and the counting process in Northern Ireland and we will play our part in this review. In addition we will report on the progress made on our recommendations in October 2012”

The Commission has today also published data on expenditure incurred by candidates who contested the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May 2011. This data can be viewed at:
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/party-finance-analysis/campaign-expenditure

Ends

Electoral Commission press office: 028 9089 4023
Out of office hours: 07789 920 414

Notes to editors

1. The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Our aim is integrity and public confidence in the UK’s democratic process. We regulate party and election finance, set standards for well-run elections and are responsible for the conduct and regulations of referendums held under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (2000).
2. The full report is available to read here: Electoral Commission report on the Northern Ireland Assembly elections on 5 May 2011 (PDF).
3. The Commission has also produced independent reports this week on the UK-wide referendum on the voting system used to elect MPs and the elections to the National Assembly for Wales. Its report on the elections on the Scottish Parliamentary elections will be published on 27 October 2011. All of the reports are available to read at www.electoralcommission.org.uk
4. Data on candidate expenditure will be available to download from the Commission’s website on Thursday 20 October.