 | 'At the two by-elections held to date within Stirling Council - Dunblane in June
1998 and Highland in April 2000 - turnouts were well down on previous
elections. Applying the same sort of trend to the Teith Ward, this would
suggest that voter turnout would fall to between 40 % - 45%. The turnout for
the by-election was 63.2%, a fall of 5% since the local government elections in
1999.' Stirling Council, 1 st May 2002. |  |
There was a by-election for the Teith ward of Stirling on the 18 th of April 2002 following the death of Cllr Alasdair Reid.
Teith is in the new Stirling Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Anne McGuire MP) and in the Stirling Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Dr Sylvia Jackson MSP).
| 18 th April 2002 By-election Turnout 63.2 % (+ 5 %) on an all postal ballot | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Nelson |  |
Conservative | 632 | 38.3 % | - 0.8 % |
| Ken Reid |  |
Scottish National Party | 467 | 28.3 % | + 2.8 % |
| Graham Reed |  |
Liberal Democrat | 263 | 15.9 % | + 1.1 % |
| Kathleen Johnstone |  |
Labour | 233 | 14.1 % | - 6.4 % |
| Donald Hopper |  |
Scottish Socialist Party | 52 | 3.2 % | (+ 3.2 %) |
| Conservative hold | |
Conservative majority | 165 | 10.0 % | - 3.6 % |
| 6 th May 1999 Turnout % (+ %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alastair Reid | |
Conservative | 717 | 39.1 % | % |
| David McGettigan | |
Scottish National Party | 468 | 25.5 % | % |
| Gillian Crompton | |
Labour | 375 | 20.5 % | % |
| Katharine Hayman | |
Liberal Democrat | 272 | 14.8 % | % |
| Conservative hold | |
Conservative majority | 249 | 13.6 % | % |
1 PURPOSE
1.1 To advise Council of the result of the Teith Ward by-election which was
conducted by means of a pilot scheme approved by Scottish Ministers to
conduct the election by means of an all postal ballot.
2 SUMMARY
2.1
Following the death of Alasdair Reid, the Teith ward became vacant on 3rd
November 2002. The Teith by-election was subsequently conducted by
means of a postal ballot on 18 April 2002. The count for the by-election took
place on 18 April in Thornhill Community Centre when Paul Nelson was duly
elected to serve on the Stirling Council for the Teith Ward.
2.2
The by-election was conducted by means of a pilot scheme approved by
Scottish Ministers to conduct the election by means of an all-postal ballot
under the provisions of the Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002.
This report confirms arrangements to carryout a necessary evaluation of the
pilot.
3 RECOMMENDATION(S)
The Council is invited
3.1
to note the result of the Teith Ward by-election and to welcome Councillor
Paul Nelson to his first meeting of Stirling Council.
3.2
to note the arrangements in place to evaluate the all postal ballot pilot scheme
4 CONSIDERATIONS
4.1
The Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002 received Royal Assent
on 22 January 2002 and, as expected, the Act included provision for the
synchronisation of the polls at local government elections with the polls at
elections to the Scottish Parliament. Consequently, the local government
elections scheduled to take place in May 2002 would now take place in May
2003 and arrangements to fill the vacancy in the Teith ward created as a
consequence of the death of Alasdair Reid could proceed provided that the by-
election had to be held within three months of the 2002 Act coming into force.
4.2
The 2002 Act provided for pilot schemes approved by Scottish Ministers, to be
run for the conduct of local elections. In setting up this scheme, the Ministers'
aims were to make it easier for people to vote, ease the administrative burden
of elections and improve voter turnout. The Electoral Commission would
evaluate any pilot scheme approved by Ministers.
4.3
On 14 February, 2002 the Council agreed to make an application to the
Scottish Executive under the Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002,
to run an electoral pilot to conduct the Teith by-election by means of a postal
ballot on 18 April 2002 provided that the application was approved by the
Scottish Executive and the necessary Order in terms of the 2002 Act in
respect of the pilot was in force by 28 February 2002.
4.4
On 28 February, the Scottish Executive advised the Council that Scottish
Ministers had approved the Council's application and that the necessary order
had been made on 27 February 2002 in terms of the 2002 Act in respect of the
pilot. The order came into force on 28 February 2002.
4.5
Accordingly, the Teith by-election was conducted by means of a postal ballot.
The count for the by-election took place on 18 April in Thornhill Community
Centre. The Count lasted 2 hours from 7.00pm to 9.00pm and was well
attended by representatives of the Community.
Representatives of the
Scottish Executive and the Electoral Commission were also present to
observe the proceedings.
4.6
The votes cast for each Candidate were as follows -
Donald Hopper
Scottish Socialist Party
52
Kathleen Johnstone Scottish Labour Party
233
Paul Nelson
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
632
Graham Reed
Scottish Liberal Democrats
263
Ken Reid
Scottish National Party (SNP)
467
Spoiled Ballots
3
The total votes cast was 1650. The Returning Officer declared Paul Nelson
duly elected to serve as the member for the Teith Ward.
4.7
At the two by-elections held to date within Stirling Council - Dunblane in June
1998 and Highland in April 2000 - turnouts were well down on previous
elections. Applying the same sort of trend to the Teith Ward, this would
suggest that voter turnout would fall to between 40 % - 45%. The turnout for
the by-election was 63.2%, a fall of 5% since the local government elections in
1999. Both Fife Central and East Ayrshire held by-elections on the same day
by conventional means. The turnouts were: Fife Central 37.2% and East
Ayrshire 44.8%, representing a fall of 17% and 16% respectively since the
local government elections in 1999. This would seem to suggest that as
regards increasing the turnout over that which might otherwise have been
anticipated; the Stirling pilot shows indications of having been a success in this
regard.
4.8
The evaluation process is being carried out by Chief Executive's Services and
the Electoral Commission is carrying out a separate evaluation. The
evaluation must contain details of the scheme and an assessment of the
scheme's effectiveness in facilitating voting and (if relevant) the counting
process. The evaluation will also include a statement as to whether, the pilot
met the Government's aim to make voting straight forward, efficient, secure
and above all readily accessible to all electors given today's lifestyles and the
work and family commitments people have. Research to explore the
electorate's views on the postal ballot is being undertaken by Chief Executive's
by means of a postal questionnaire which has been sent out to a randomly
sampled 20% of the Electorate. This is being complemented by telephone
surveys of a further 3% of the population and is targeted at multi-electorate
households. A focus group to discuss issues in more depth took place on 22
April 2002.
4.9
The Council has to send a copy of the final report to the Electoral Commission
and to Scottish Ministers and publish it in its own area within three months of
the declaration of the results of the election.
4.10 Copies of the formal evaluation will be sent to all Councillors in due course.
5 POLICY IMPLICATIONS
5.1
None
6 CONSULTATIONS
6.1
None
7 RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
7.1
As previously reported to Council on 14 February as regards the anticipated
cost of the pilot exercise.
8 BACKGROUND PAPERS
8.1
Declaration of Result - Teith By-Election.
8.2
Minutes of Meeting of Stirling Council - 14 February 2002.
8.3
Report by Chief Executive on the Teith by-election submitted to Council on 14
February 2002.
Author(s)
Name
Designation
Tel No/Extension
Fiona Macleod
Democratic Service Manager 443351
Approved by
Name
Designation
Signature
Keith Yates
Returning Officer
Date
22 April 2002.
Reference
Stirling Council successfully conducted Scotland's first-ever all-postal ballot in April 2002. Almost two thirds of voters in the Teith by-election returned their ballot papers, electing Paul Nelson (Conservative) as their local councillor.
'In terms of turnout, with 63.2%, this has been a success,' said a spokesman for Stirling Council. 'In our last council by-election two years ago turnout was 43%.
Papers were sent to 2696 electors in the Teith ward, which includes the outskirts of Stirling and Dunblane.
"This change in voting procedure has come about as a result of a recent Scottish Executive initiative allowing councils to try out innovative electoral systems to make voting easier and improve turnout,' commented Returning Officer Keith Yates. Mr Nelson won with a majority of 165 over the SNP.
Read: The Electoral Commision Stirling Council Pilot Scheme Evaluation
18th May 2002 [pdf, 394KB]
All Postal Ballot Pilot Evaluation Report 31st May 2002 [pdf, 358KB]
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