Issue details

To enable the use of tablet technology within Polling Stations to be deployed and for the relative advantage to compliance with franchise requirements and ballot paper accounting to be observed in practice and to inform the Local Returning Officer to determine whether this technology should be deployed at future elections.

The risk to the Council is that it will procure the items for the Local Returning Officer and for this cost not to be reimbursed. This risk is entirely mitigated by the fact that the decision maker has the authority of the Local Returning Officer to draw the funds identified upon production of the invoice from Democracy Counts.

The primary risk to the Local Returning Officer is that the tablet technology does not function in respect of confirming individuals eligible to vote in the election at individual Polling Stations, identify the Ballot Paper Numbers to issue and produce the Marked Registers and Corresponding Number Lists. Through the use of the technology at the Bluehouse Ward By-election on 11 January 2024, the correct operation of the software and hardware was checked in a real life scenario across three Polling Station. This confirmed that there was a low risk of failure. The connectivity test across all 77 Polling Station locations at this election (to be procured through this decision) is to further mitigate this risk.