[05
MAY 00] STRATFORD ON AVON DISTRICT COUNCIL NEWS
Conservatives Take Control In Stratford
Conservatives
have taken control of Stratford-on-Avon District Council after
yesterday's local elections.
The
Conservatives now hold 28 of the council's 55 seats, with the Liberal
Democrats having 18 seats, the Independents 7 and Labour with 2.
Previously
the Liberal Democrats had run the controlling interest with support
from the Independents.
Stratford
was piloting a new method of voting and counting, using an electronic
push-button system, as part of a Home Office scheme looking into new
methods of voting.
Ian
Prosser Returning Officer said:
"This
was an historic event and the initial view is that electronic voting
was very popular with the public and proved easy to use."
"I
am slightly disappointed that the actual results did not come
through as early as we had originally hoped, but this may not
necessarily be down to the new system.
"This
was a pilot and the whole point of it was to see how the public, our
staff and of course the system itself coped under real election
conditions.
"We
will now be preparing our report for the Home Office based on our
experience, and it will be up to the government to decide what to do
with the results of not only ours, but all the other pilots which
were being carried out across the country."
The
Stratford-on-Avon District was the only council in the country to use
the electronic system for all of its election.
Other
pilots used the electronic voting system in only one or two wards
alongside the traditional paper ballot, early voting was tried in
other areas, and postal voting was also being tested.
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