Featured Image: Oxfam’s Your Vote Is Your Voice visual used in USA elections
After working on the May elections for Nottingham City Council our team received a follow up letter after our paid electoral work experience from the Chief Exec of the council Mel Barrett.
Above: Local Government Chronicle article about Mel Barrett: This Is A Good Council (and indeed it is!)
Mel became Chief Executive of the council in Sep 2020. He grew up in in post 2nd world war 2 reconstructed Coventry (city of culture 2021) to Windrush generation parents (see how MTVH housing Association is commemorating one of their Windrush generation founders, Keith Shaw June 2023) Mel holds a BSc(Hons) in Land Management from DeMontfort University, Leicester, an MBA from City University, London and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He’s married with two sons who’ve just finished university.
Everyone who worked on the elections received this letter telling us, reporting back if you like, about the quality of the election process. The information is below and it’s worth reading. We need to encourage more people to work on the elections who really believe in the values underpinning the democratic process. We also need to encourage friends, neighbours to register to use their vote so that every part of the system is polished, works and relates to every other part.
We need people working on the elections who will engage with the follow up process more thoroughly. If they were employed as part of the team permanently then it would make a real difference to the feedback survey. Often people are employed casually so that even if they want to build the registration process they have to do it on a voluntary basis. I think everyone involved in the election should respond so that all surveys can build the quality of response at every level.
Nottingham and Derby City Council used ‘Kangaroo’ Boards and Pouches so that where the individual votes are popped in: nothing can be missed or forgotten and multiple votes are counted.
Letter from Mel:
Review of May 2023 Nottingham City Council Elections
Following the successful delivery of the May 2023 local elections a survey was carried out to obtain feedback on key elements of the organisation and delivery of the election. Candidates & Agents and staff employed at Polling Stations and the Count Venue were approached to complete the survey.
21 responses were received out of a total of 178 candidates and agents (12% response)
188 responses were received out of a total of 379 polling station staff (50% response)
111 responses were received out of a total of 249 count staff (45% response).
Below are some of the key themes taken from the survey:
Candidates & Agents Responses Briefing Session: 100% said they received all the information and documents they required.
Support: 100% confirmed that their query was dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Nominations: 100% were satisfied with the way the nominations process was conducted.
Polling Stations: 95% agreed that the polling station used were fit for purpose, with only a few comments in relation to specific venues.
Polling Station Staff: 100% agreed that the polling station staff were helpful on election day.
Count: 95% were satisfied with the conduct of the count, however some comments were received in relation to the venue, acoustics and the layout of the room.
Candidates & Agents Response
Briefing Session Core Team support
Nominations Polling Stations Polling Staff Count
100%
100%
100%
95%
100%
95%
10% 20%
30% 40%
Percentage of Satisfaction
90% 100%
50% 60% 70% 80%
Polling Station Staff Responses
Training: 100% said the online training was satisfactory or above. Most people thought the videos and scenarios were helpful particularly in relation to voter ID. However, some said that they prefer face to face sessions or training nearer to election day.
Collection of Equipment: 97% where happy with the arrangements for the collection of polling booths and ballot boxes, with 3% not so happy due to the lack of light in the car park and the portable booths being awkward for some colleagues to get in and out of their cars.
Polling Stations: Over 97% were satisfied with the polling station venue they were assigned. Those who were not happy stated this was due to poor access, lack of parking or space.
Voter ID: 96% said they understood the process for checking ID and 85% thought that voter ID had a reasonable or barely noticeable impact on their role. However, many staff suggested this was due to the low turnout and it would have more of an impact at a general election.
Delivery of equipment: 93% were happy with the overall handover process and thought it went smoothly. However, some commented on issues with the parking and instructions
Training: Collection of Equipment Polling Stations Voter ID Handover of Equipment
10% 20%
30% 40%
Percentage of Satisfaction
90% 100%
100%
97%
97%
96%
93%
50% 60% 70% 80%
Count Staff Responses
Training: 100% rated the face to face training as satisfactory or above and found it useful to have a run through prior to the count taking place.
Instructions: 100% found the instructions and paperwork clear and the majority received all items on time.
Equipment: Kangaroo Boards were a real success with 100% of count staff saying they were a massive improvement and made the process far easier to record the votes. In addition, 100% of staff also commentated that the new spreadsheet was a significant improvement on the completion of paper records and was easy to use and intuitive.
Venue: Over 85% of staff thought the count venue was fit for purpose, with just under 15% reporting that they found it unsatisfactory. A number of reasons were given but the main reasons were accessing the site (queuing in traffic), the lack of parking, space in the count room and layout but by far the most significant issue was the poor acoustics in the room.
Support: 100% of count staff felt supported by Electoral Services and the Count Managers on the day and queries were dealt with efficiently.
Count Staff Responses
85%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Training Instructions Equipment Venue Support
10% 20%
30% 40%
Percentage of Satisfaction
80% 90% 100%
50% 60% 70%
Conclusion
The vast majority of comments were extremely positive with an overall satisfaction rate of over 95%.
The lowest satisfaction score recorded was for the count venue and this centred on access, poor acoustics and the layout of the hall.
I would once again like to thank all those who participated in the smooth and effective running of the election, which is essential to our process of democratic renewal.
I would also like to thank those who took the time to respond to the survey, as your experiences and comments will help us to continue to improve the effectiveness of our election arrangements moving forwards, including for our forthcoming Polling District & Places Review and for the location of a count venue for the election to be held in May 2024.
Melbourne Barrett Returning Officer
18 August 2023
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