legends · 3 min read ·
Polling Station Log
A polling station's log reports a ward that votes for a candidate from a street demolished in 1961.
**Electoral Board · Polling Station Log · Ward 4, St. Osric Community Centre**
**Presiding officer:** R. Quill · **Polling day:** 23 Oct · **Polls open:** 07:00–22:00 · **Electors on register:** 1,184
· · ·
**07:00** Polls open. Ballot boxes checked and sealed.
**08:14** Elector 412 (Hannah Doyle) voted. Mark recorded. Ballot paper issued and placed in box.
**09:30** Elector 88 (Samuel Lane) voted. Mark recorded.
**12:48** Elector 1,017 (Eleanor Price) voted. Mark recorded. Elector handed the presiding officer her polling card and said, "I've already voted, but I'd like to do it again so it's counted properly."
*Officer's note: elector's name matched the register. Elector's poll card showed a mark in the box for candidate 3. Elector insisted the mark was not hers.*
· · ·
**16:20** Elector 1,184 (Thomas Ward) voted. Mark recorded.
*Officer's note: elector Ward is listed on the register as deceased, 2019. He presented a valid poll card, a valid passport, and a valid signature. He stated he was "just passing through" and had come to make sure his vote was in before the box closed.*
· · ·
**22:00** Polls closed. Boxes sealed. 1,184 electors recorded as voting. Register count: 1,184 ballots.
*Officer's note: the register shows 1,184 electors, all of whom have a mark recorded against their name. Ballot papers in box: 1,183. One ballot is missing. The register shows the missing ballot was issued to elector 1,184, Thomas Ward.*
· · ·
**Count log (Ward 4, 23 Oct, 22:30)**
Count commenced. Boxes opened in the presence of agents. Ballots sorted by candidate.
Candidate 1: 412. Candidate 2: 301. Candidate 3: 470. Total: 1,183. Spoiled: 0.
*Counting officer's note: the candidate 3 pile is 470 papers. Candidate 3 received 470 votes in the count. The register shows 470 electors in Ward 4 with a mark recorded against candidate 3. The electors who voted for candidate 3 are listed by name and address. Their addresses are all in the same street, Gallows Row, which has been demolished since 1961.*
· · ·
**Complaint letter to Returning Officer (Hannah Doyle, 24 Oct)**
*Dear Sir,*
*I voted yesterday at St. Osric's, at 08:14. I put my mark in the box for candidate 1. I'm writing because I received a notice this morning saying my vote was counted for candidate 3, and that I have been recorded as having voted twice. I didn't vote twice. I'd remember.*
*The notice came with a copy of the ballot paper. The mark is in the box for candidate 3. It's my handwriting. My signature is on the back. But I didn't sign it.*
*Please tell me whose vote I cast.*
· · ·
**Returning officer's reply (25 Oct)**
Dear Ms Doyle,
The count has been verified. Your ballot has been checked against the register, and the mark in the box for candidate 3 is correctly recorded. The electoral system has no record of a second voter using your name.
We are unable to correct the result, as the poll is closed and all ballots have been sealed.
· · ·
**Presiding officer's log (Ward 4, 25 Oct, late entry)**
I've been asked to record my own vote. I did not vote. I was on duty all day. I checked my register copy, and I'm listed as an elector. My mark is recorded against candidate 3, in my own handwriting, at 19:52.
I was at my desk at 19:52, and I did not leave it. But the electoral roll has a small pencil note beside my name, in the same hand as the marks: *Vote cast for the one who counts. Please do not look for her.*
· · ·
**Final return (Ward 4, 27 Oct)**
Result declared: Candidate 3 elected, with 470 votes.
Turnout: 1,184 of 1,184 electors. 100%.
*Note from the returning officer: the result stands. Candidate 3 took her seat on 3 Nov. The spare ballot was retained as procedure requires. Hannah Doyle's complaint was not upheld.*