Thursday, May 06, 2010

When should the polls close?

Given all the reports in the press currently about pulling [best typo EVER] stations closing whilst still having large queues of people waiting to vote, what is the likely fall out from this for future elections? OK, so I know right now we're waiting for some more results other than Sunderland, but it seems to me this is going to be an issue after the whole thing is over.

So what should the rules be? At the end of the day, if you have a queue you're probably always going to have to turn someone away at some point, I mean they have to close at some point. Should the polls be open longer? Should it be over the weekend? Is it likely that there will be a challenge to a result if they're close?

Worse still, it seems there are reports of ballot papers running out. Why on earth did they not print enough for everyone? Are they worried about the trees or something? The result is important, but the aftermath of these cock-ups is going to be something that will need to be dealt with.

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