North East Herts MP Oliver Heald has joined the cross-party campaign to Save General Election Night and ensure that counts are conducted on the Thursday night immediately after polling.
Recently the counts have tended to be held the day afterwards, on the Friday, which has led to fears being raised for the “end of General Election night”. A number of Returning Officers are backing this trend but MPs are campaigning for the Thursday night count arguing that the results should be announced as early as possible.
The Early Day Motion (number 2033, entitled “Save General Election Night) reads as follows: “That this House is concerned at reports that growing numbers of Returning Officers are considering postponing the counting of votes cast on the day of the General Election until the day after polling; believes that in the 21st century it would be a regressive move not to announce constituency results as early as possible; further believes that public confidence in the results could be undermined by delays in the counting of ballot papers and that fewer voters would be able to watch the results being announced if this were done on a Friday afternoon; and calls on local authorities throughout the United Kingdom to ensure that all ballot papers are counted immediately after the close of polls on General Election night, as has been the practice in previous General Elections.”
Commenting, Oliver said, “General Election night is an important national institution and something which millions of voters stay up to find out what the next Government will be and losing it would be a great shame.”
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Contact: Martin Jee, Parliamentary Assistant to Oliver Heald MP, 020 7219 4478