Agenda item

            The Democratic Services Manager submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted report:

“1     Relevant Background Information

1.1Members will be aware that the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Local Councils, together with the national referendum on the Alternative Vote System, will be held on Thursday, 5th May, 2011.

2    Key Issues

2.1Attached at Appendix 1 is a timetable for the local elections setting out important dates in the lead up to, during and following polling day on 5th May.

2.2Members are also asked to note the following significant points:

·         At previous local elections, the nomination papers had to be delivered on one of two set days.  This time around, however, nominations from prospective candidates will be acceptable on any working day from 10.00am to 4.00pm from 28th March till 6th April and from 10.00 am till 1.00pm on 7th April.  Officers will be in touch with the Party Groups represented on the Council to arrange appointments for the submission of nomination papers.

·         Nomination Papers for the local elections may be downloaded from the Electoral Office website at http://www.eoni.org.uk/localcouncilnominationpapers?3.pdf or can be collected from Room G42, the Principal Office for the purpose of the election.

·         Candidates are advised to fill in the forms and submit them in draft, including the signatures of the proposer, seconder and attestors, to the Democratic Services Section where the will be checked.  This will avoid any problems when the signed forms are submitted for nomination.

·         Each candidate is entitled to receive a copy of the Electoral Register for the District Electoral Area in which they are standing.  These are available in electronic and/or hard copy form from Room G42, the Principal Office for the purpose of the election.

·         At the close of poll at 10.00pm on 5th May, all ballot boxes for the Assembly and Council elections and for the Referendum will be taken to the appropriate Count Centres where the Assembly and Referendum Counts will be held.  This will mean that Belfast Council ballot boxes for the Balmoral, Court (part of), Laganbank, Lower Falls, Pottinger (part of) and Upper Falls District Electoral Areas will go to the King’s Hall, Belfast;   those for the Castle, Court (part of) and Oldpark District Electoral Areas to the Valley Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey; and those for the Pottinger (part of) and Victoria District Electoral Areas to the Ards Leisure Centre, Newtownards.

·         At 7.30 am on Friday, 6th May the verification of all the ballot boxes for both elections and the referendum will take place in these count centres.  Local Council candidates and their appropriate election and counting agents will be entitled to be present for this verification.

·         It is anticipated that the verification process will be completed by 1.00pm on the afternoon of 6th May.  When the verification is completed, the Local Government ballot boxes will be removed with the Belfast City Council boxes being delivered to the City Hall for secure storage until Monday 9th May.

·         The Assembly count will commence once the verification has been completed and the will continue to 11pm.  If necessary, the Assembly counts will continue on Saturday, 7th May until completion.

·         The Referendum count will start at 4.00pm on 6th May.

·         The Local Council counts for the UpperFalls, Lower Falls, Oldpark, Pottinger and Victoria District Electoral Areas will commence at 9.00am on Monday, 9th May in the Great Hall and Banqueting Hall, City Hall and continue until completion.  The counts for the remaining District Electoral Areas of Court, Castle, Balmoral and Laganbank will be held on Tuesday, 10th May.

2.3Please note that, as the verification process for all the Council District Electoral Areas willhave been completed on Friday, 6th May, there will be no need to repeat the exercise and the counts in the City Hall will commence with the sort of the ballot papers into the 1st preferences expressed by voters.  This should mean that the counts will be finished slightly sooner than would have otherwise been the case.

      If Members have any questions in relation to the local elections, please contact me, Jim Hanna (ext 6313) or Gareth Quinn (ext 6316).

3    Resource Implications

      None.

4    Equality and Good Relations Implications

      None.

5    Recommendations

5.1The Committee is requested to note the contents of the report.

6    Decision Tracking

      No decision tracking linked to the report.

7        Documents Attached

      Appendix 1 – Local Council Election Timetable.

Appendix 1

Note:  the above timetable excludes Saturdays and Sundays and the following public holidays:

·         Good Friday 22nd April, 2011

·         Easter Monday 25th April, 2011     

·         Bank Holiday Friday 29th April, 2011

·         May Day Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May, 2011”

            After discussion, the Committee noted the contents of the report and agreed, given the importance of the election process to Councillors and candidates, that a letter be forwarded to the Chief Electoral Officer of Northern Ireland expressing the Committee’s dissatisfaction at the decision to hold the Local Government verification process in the three Count Centres identified for the Assembly and Referendum Counts, which would result in the verification of the District Electoral Areas of Pottinger and Court having to be undertaken in two separate locations.

            A Member pointed out that the Belfast Counts would take place on 9th and 10th May and that it was proposed that five District Electoral Areas would be counted on 9th May, with the remaining four being counted on 10th May.  He expressed his concerns that for a number of years the order in which these Counts took place disadvantaged the candidates for those Areas counted on 10th May and in relation to the fact that the order of the Counts had not been rotated so that the process was fair for all concerned.