[27
APR 00] STRATFORD ON AVON DISTRICT COUNCIL NEWS
Last Chance To Log On To Stratford vote.com
People
living in south Warwickshire are being offered the chance to select
the people to run a £30m local business employing 350 staff, but with
no fears of a stock market crash.
And
they are being invited to step into the electronic age by using the
latest technology to make their decisions.
It
might sound unlikely to some, but 63,000 people are being given the
chance to do this when they elect their local councillors on May 4.
Stratford
District Council is the only authority in the country to be
experimenting with electronic voting in this year’s poll.
And
voters have got one more chance to have a look at the equipment before
they vote for real next week.
One
of the machines has been touring shops and organisations in the
district to show the electorate how it works.
The
last chance to try one of the machines at a roadshow will be on
Saturday 29 April, at Marks and Spencer in Stratford, between 12pm and
2pm.
A
machine is also on permanent demonstration up until the elections in
the reception area at the district council headquarters in Elizabeth
House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Returning
Officer Ian Prosser said:
"With
the council spending millions of pounds each year on services to its
residents, it is somewhat surprising that on average less than 40
per cent turn out at election time.
"We
are hoping that this year the turnout will improve, as this district
is part of a pilot project to introduce new technology and look at
ways of improving turnout at elections, perhaps even using the
internet in a few years time.
"Stratford-on-Avon
District Council is pioneering a new system of voting and counting,
using electronic polling booths under a pilot study by the Home
Office.
“The
system is very simple to use and the feedback we have had from
nearly 30 roadshows demonstrating it around our district has been
very positive.
"One
of the surprising things is how easy the district's elderly
residents have found the new system, so I hope that everyone, young
and not to so young, who is entitled to vote will exercise their
right to do so on 4 May and help decide who runs the council."
Although
electronic voting and counting has been used for many years in some
European countries, Stratford is the only council in the UK to be
trying out the system for all of its elections this year, before a
decision is made by the government on whether it should be introduced
everywhere.
Local
elections are being held for 18 of the district council's 55 seats,
and in 10 parishes. The current political make-up of Stratford-on-Avon
District Council is 24 Conservative seats, 20 Liberal Democrat, 7
Independent and 4 Labour.
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