Key information
Date: Friday 13th May 2016
Time: All day
Motion detail
This Assembly wishes to express its disappointment in the way London Elects and the London Borough of Barnet Returning Officer conducted the Mayoral and London Assembly elections and proposes the setting up of a working group to examine what happened, as has always happened in previous elections, alongside assessing the way in which the elections were carried out across London.
In the London Borough of Barnet the supplementary register, rather than the full register, was supplied to all 155 polling stations. By the time the error was spotted and remedial action taken, estimates suggest a significant number of voters were disenfranchised.
The Mayoral and London Assembly elections were overseen by London Elects, and the counting of ballots on Friday 6th May 2016 was delayed by nearly seven hours following a computer system failure. The full London Assembly results were not announced until shortly before midnight whilst the Mayoral ballot was only formally read in the early hours of Saturday 7th May 2016.
A working group should be formed and should include in its investigations the London Borough of Barnet’s and London Elects’ handling of the Mayoral and London Assembly elections, and examine what changes should be made to prevent such failings from reoccurring. The working group should also assess how the Mayoral and London Assembly elections were conducted across the capital with the aim of encouraging best practice.
This investigation should be completed at the earliest opportunity, with the Barnet part of the investigation concluding before the European Referendum so the Council and the Electoral Commission, and with London Elects if necessary, have time to make any changes in Barnet to ensure that this does not happen again. The working group should report to the London Assembly’s Oversight Committee.