Election process: Council adopts 10-point plan to avoid repeat of poll chaos

TEN recommendations drawn up in response to election night chaos that resulted in some people in a Yorkshire city being unable to vote in last year's general election will be in place for elections this May, council papers have revealed.

Hundreds of angry electors were left queuing outside polling stations in Sheffield last May when officials from the city council, which organised polling stations, were caught out by what they said was a "higher than expected turnout".

Since then, work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure that the situation, which led to considerable embarrassment for the authority's chief executive and returning officer John Mothersole, would not be repeated in subsequent polls.

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Last October, a 10-point plan was drawn up, which is supposed to improve capacity at polling stations, and ensure there are enough staff to cater for the numbers of people expected to turn up, particularly during the evening rush.

That plan has now been developed further by electoral services officers to deal with the potential of a referendum on the UK's voting system, which could take place in tandem with local and parish elections scheduled for this May.

A report by Sheffield's director of modern governance Alistair Groggs says the improvements will cost 46.050 for the May elections this year, and would be higher for a national election, but adds some costs would be met by central Government.

Late last year Mr Mothersole revealed the results of a council inquiry into the election night problems and vowed that the mistakes made on the night would "never happen again".

Mr Mothersole did not take his fee for acting as the city's returning officer after the problems last year.