POLITICIANS have agreed to investigate after Barnet Council was reduced to a “laughing stock” during the election-day fiasco.
City Hall will probe why the authority sent the wrong voter lists to the borough’s 155 polling stations during last week’s mayor elections, causing thousands to lose their vote.
The review was called for by the leader of the Greater London Assembly, Gareth Bacon, and agreed by all parties at a debate this morning.
Mr Bacon, who supports the Times Series’ #WhyCouldntWeVote campaign, said: “This was an entirely avoidable administrative error – a situation that is nothing short of a disgrace.
“Faith in the system will have been undermined by the shambles witnessed at Barnet. it is vital that voters’ faith is restored with a swift and thorough investigation.”
Gareth Bacon, below
His motion was seconded by Labour member Len Duvall, who said elections should not be carried out in a “round-about way”.
Barnet representative Andrew Dismore, who held on to his seat, says he believes the Tory group see elections as an “inconvenience” rather than a cornerstone of democracy.
He said: “Cock-ups of this magnitude have been a disaster waiting to happen with an alright on the night approach. The problem is the electoral department is staffed by untrained, inexperienced staff.
“They are clearly well out of their depths and this is a product of cuts, privatisation and a complete lack of scrutiny. Bungling Barnet has become a laughing stock, they couldn’t run whelk stall.
“Luckily the result wasn’t affected, but it’s a small comfort to those who lost their vote. The evidence I have is the tip of Barnet’s electoral dung heap.
“It beggars belief.”
Below: Barnet Council couldn't run a whelk stall
While he welcomed the fact that chief executive Andrew Travers has left his role, he also called for council leader Richard Cornelius and general functions committee chairman Joan Scannell to step down.
One polling station officer phoned the council when spotting the error the night before, while another one alerted them at 5am – but the error was not fixed until 10.30am.
The election hotline, which is run by Capita which is responsible for most of Barnet Council’s services, did not open until 9am and was out of action for most of the day.
The GLA’s working group will carry out its investigation before the European Referendum.
Meanwhile, Barnet Council will carry out its own investigation – though it has not yet said who or what body will cover this and whether it will be “independent”.
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