Brighton 2005

The Hilton Metropole Hotel at Brighton was once again the venue for the Association's Annual Seminar (we were last here in 2003) and this page was set up to keep Members who could not attend up to date with what was going on.

Images and Reports from Seminar

Delegates visiting stands in the Exhibition Hall

Kate Sullivan from the Electoral Commission with a message!

Session Notes

Parliamentary Election 2005?

Several speakers were involved in this session (on Monday morning). Kate Sullivan, from the Electoral Commission explained that:-

• The Commission will be promoting a public awareness campaign
• The first campaign will be about registration
• It has produced a public information leaflet on postal voting
• When the election is called, there will be a separate campaign to promote voting

Malcolm Rawlings, of the Department of Constitutional Affairs, reported that:-

• The government has set up a project board
• The board was advised by a project advisory group which includes regional returning officers·
• There will be no legislative changes before the election
• Negotiations with the Treasury concerning fees and charges are now complete and details were published on Friday 4th February

Chris Solich, from Stevenage BC, gave delegates some very useful advice on staffing levels for the processing of postal votes, particularly in view of the big increase in numbers.

Alan Winchcombe, Swindon BC, talked about preparation techniques and the importance of planning ahead.

Peter Quirk, from the Electoral Commission, talked about the practical advice that would be provided. Various guidance material would be issued to support administrators, including a handbook for polling staff. There would also be web-based information and briefing sessions held at various locations.

Electoral Commission Update

Addressing a plenary session at the AEA Seminar in Brighton, Sam Younger, Chairman of the Electoral Commission reviewed the 2004 election experience and looked at the changing shape of elections.

Review of 2004

• An eventful year – the elections in June were the most complex ever run in the United Kingdom.
• Complications of managing combined elections were compounded by pilot schemes and new boundaries.
• Postal voting was trialled on a huge scale – even in non-pilot areas, large increases in postal voting added enormous pressure.
• Politicisation of the electoral arrangements for the pilot regions delayed the orders for running the elections, but guaranteed them a high profile.
• In many cases, the media exaggerated problems in the pilot areas. However, the intensive media coverage made it more difficult for electoral offices to cope.
• The elections in June were delivered successfully, but those involved with running the elections hope that they will never again have to face such intense pressure.
• At the same time, Returning Officers and their staff from the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humberside regions were working with the Commission on planning for three regional referendums.
• In the event, government withdrew from two of the regions, deciding to hold a referendum in the North East region only. This was run very successfully and was a tribute to the Chief Returning Officer and his staff in Sunderland and to the advanced planning undertaken in the three regions.

Strategic Issues

• The Commission's report ‘Voting for Change' encompasses reviews of all the consultation papers that Administrators will recall were initially issued with alarming regularity and sets out the Commission's recommendations.
• The government has responded, accepted more than 75% of the Commission's recommendations and intends to legislate when Parliamentary time allows.
• The Commission is looking to work closely with the Government, political parties and Electoral Administrators, as it will be many years before there is any further legislation.
• The Commission has also published ‘Delivering Democracy', its report on pilot schemes.
• It is clear that the public wants choice in elections. All-postal elections limit choice. However, postal voting is a key part of elections and will remain so.
• The election model for England, Wales and Scotland needs to ensure choice of: voting in person; voting by post; and in the future, voting electronically. Things are different in Northern Ireland, particularly since the Fraud Act.
• There was a wide divergence of experience in different parts of the country. In some areas, even postal voting on demand caused problems with fraud.
• The Commission is working up a foundation model and trying to achieve consensus on a wide range of possible arrangements. The report is due to be published on 31st March.
• Voters do not want single channel voting; the introduction of individual registration is important for checking of remote voting; and e-voting must not be forgotten.
• Longer term and more co-ordinated pilot schemes may be required. It is vital to learn and adjust as a result of pilot schemes. With one side concerned about turnout and the other side about security, evaluation is essential.

Short to Medium Term Issues

• There is the likelihood of a UK parliamentary election this year. This will entail increasing numbers of political parties and candidates, tight timetables, a possibility of combined elections and huge numbers of postal votes on demand.
• The European Constitutional referendum may be held in Spring 2006. The Commission has already commented on the intelligibility of the question and will have the role of regulating the participants - limits of expenditure will be very difficult to implement.
• The Commission's Chief Executive is the Chief Counting Officer for a UK wide referendum. At present, legislation does not allow for the appointment of regional counting officers, but this will be corrected.
• A voter awareness programme will give details of where to go for information about referendum campaigns. The Commission is responsible for designating bodies to represent the YES and NO campaigns. If unable to designate such bodies, the Commission itself has to explain the arguments for and against the referendum question.
• Future challenges include: multi-channel elections; changes to electoral systems with a possible move to Single Transferable Votes for local elections; encouraging electoral registration and voting; other elections such as elected mayors; and the insatiable appetite of the media.

Vision for the Next Ten Years

• Multi channel voting will be a reality – it is the only basis on which we can move forward with consensus.
• There will be a national electronic register of electors, underpinned by individual registration.
• We will have national standards and logically, more central funding to guarantee standards.
• There will be a single Election Act – consolidation of the current legislation is an enormously important aspiration,
• The Association of Electoral Administrators will be well resourced and together with the Electoral Commission, will form an effective lobby.

CORE – Where are we and where are we going?

The speaker at this session was Tony Bellringer, the CORE Project Manager at the ODPM. His main message was that CORE could soon become a reality. The 2004 consultation had provided evidence of support for the principles and standards and it was accepted that transactions using CORE should not be fully automated. Tony spoke of progress on the Data Matching standard. Election Mark-up Language would be introduced in two stages: Stage 1, the election support function now had an agreed specification and quality assurance testing was under way. Stage 2, the ongoing registration function would follow at the end of 2005 with computer software being rolled out by system suppliers early in 2006.

Data format issues, particularly in relation to address standards, had proved to be more complex than anticipated but the work was well under way. Naming standards were less developed but work was progressing and a key stakeholder group was being established to advise the Project Team.

In timing the implementation of CORE, the canvass window was crucial so that the correct data was collected. At the moment, this was planned for December 2005 using data collected during this year's canvass. If this date were to be missed, the project would have to wait until the same time-slot in 2006.

Security issues would be addressed as would some means of compensating EROs for the loss of register income. On the plus side, and particularly to support individual registration, new opportunities for data matching (subject to the Data Protection Act) might lead to a more accurate and robust register. To bring all this about, however, primary legislation will be required. But that, as they say, is another story!

2004 Canvass Review

This session was led by Judith Witts and the speakers were Steve Miller (Hammersmith & Fulham) and Mary Earle (Bromley). It was a run-through of the various methods used during the annual canvass.

Several issues were covered:-

• Whether to show, or not, opt-out markers on the form or, indeed, any pre-printing at all
• Personal canvassing is still the best method to maximise return rate and accuracy
• Using different methods for responding – e-mail, telephone, internet
• That return rates had generally fallen in 2004
• The timetable is now too short to enable proper checks
• Budget cuts directly affect return rates as the canvass process is trimmed down (e.g. by removing a reminder stage, or moving away from personal canvassing)

Media – “Up Front”

The session was led by Malcolm Dumper and the speakers were Chris Mead (Press Association), Ivor Gaber (Election Consultant, ITN), David Cowling (Editor of BBC Political Research), Lizz Loxam (Elections Editor, BBC News) and Peter Snow (BBC broadcaster).

The session outlined the arrangements that media organisations make leading up to a General Election. Chris Mead informed delegates that a Press Association (PA) consultant would be attending every count centre. Chris paid tribute to the work electoral administrators undertook, in particular their co-operation in providing key information. He confirmed that the AEA had offered resources to collect information vital to the PA planning arrangements.

Ivor Gaber (ITN) outlined the high investment ITN put into election night. Indeed, it is the most expensive programme on their network. Ivor thanked administrators for their continued co-operation.

David Cowling commented on the importance of the background information and the permission for broadcast units to attend counts. He explained the ‘dry runs' the BBC conducted and how everyone connected understood the importance of continued good relationships with Returning Officers.

Lizz Loxam (BBC) explained the events leading up to the announcement of results by live broadcast and how important the Returning Officer's control over the proceedings was. It was vital that some discipline to the announcement is made so that the result is not distorted by audience noise.

Peter Snow (BBC) gave an entertaining account of his involvement and how he relies on so many people to support his role. He explained the development of television broadcasts ranging from putting results on chalkboards to the modern-day high-tech graphics.

Executive Director (Policy & External Affairs), Malcolm Dumper, led the Monday afternoon session “The Media - Up Front” and is seen here with Peter Snow, the BBC's political expert, who was a surprise guest. Unfortunately, he left his swingometer behind!

And in a unique double-take, here we see Peter Snow of Uttlesford District Council and Peter Snow of the BBC!

Qualifications Awards

The AEA members who received their Certificates and Diplomas from the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Sam Younger

Social Events

As usual, Steve Taylor produced an excellent Quiz on the Social Night and has very kindly allowed me to publish it. Click here for the quiz and here for the answers. There were some amusing team names; there is no room to list them all, but here are some: Ken Dodd's Dad's Dog's Dead, Ballot Babes, Blunkett's Blind Date, Wales 11 Say No More, How Do You Like Your Uddersfield? The winning team, captained by Jeff Mills (Ellesmere Port & Neston), with 68 out of a possible 80 points was The Yea But No But Yea Buts. Runners-up were Bes's Babes captained by Eirwen Eves (Sheffield) who scored 62 points.

After Dinner Speaker - Jeff Stevenson

Comedian

Jeff Stevenson is a professional comedian who has worked in most areas of the business including theatre, cabaret and corporate functions as an after dinner entertainer. His many TV appearances include productions such as: Barrymore, Fives Company, Des O'Connor Tonight, Live from Her Majesty's, Stand and Deliver, Win Lose or Draw, Talking Telephone Numbers and many more. In recent years hosted two television game shows Jumble and Knees Up.

Actor

Jeff has appeared in many television comedies and he played himself performing at Rodney Trotter's stag night in the award winning comedy Only Fools and Horses. He has toured the UK many times as opening act for stars such as Shirley Bassey, Johnny Mathis, The Shadows, Howard Keel, Tom Jones and Jack Jones. He has travelled the world, entertaining British Forces in the Falkland Islands, Belize and Germany. He has been engaged to appear on many occasions on cruise liners such as Canberra, the QE2 and most recently for Royal Caribbean Lines on The Enchantment of the Seas.

Warm up Comic

Jeff is also one of the country's top studio hosts. Television shows he has warmed up for include: Barrymore, Blind Date, Surprise Surprise, Men Behaving Badly, Waiting For God, One Foot In The Grave, Only Fools And Horses and many more. Recent corporate clients include British Airways, Kuoni, The Leicester and Rutland Society of Architects, The Royal Society Of Architects, Canon UK, Capital, Rover, Sainsburys, LWT, The British Club Bahrain.

Before Jeff Stevenson came on, delegates were treated to a surprise but superb operatic performance from three singers whom we originally thought were hotel staff!