Local by-elections,March 1st 2018

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Seems like the byelection wasn't the biggest news in Exmouth today - nor was it the weather.

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2018 22:16:55 GMT andrewp said:

Basingstoke is counting tomorrow. Anyone know whether Exmouth or Solihull are counting tonight?

Clackmannanshire is definitely counting tomorrow, and Election Maps UK on twitter thinks Solihull is as well. 

[Terry Weldon]

The ever-informative Election Maps has tweeted that " Clackmannanshire, and Basingstoke & Deane both counting tomorrow.l - and believe Solihull are too.

Not heard from East Devon."

[Terry Weldon]

Now time for bed.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

I'm assuming Exmouth is counting tomorrow, because of this:

[finsobruce]

Mar 1, 2018 23:22:47 GMT Terry Weldon said:

Now time for bed.

"Boing"said zebedee...

[beastofbedfordshire]

Disappointing but expected

[Davıd Boothroyd]

East Devon did count after the poll, and the result in Exmouth Town ward has been declared as a Liberal Democrat hold.

[J.G.Harston]

Mar 1, 2018 23:22:01 GMT Terry Weldon said:

"...Not heard from East Devon."

Snow on the A30, England cut off.

[Andrew_S]

[mboy]

Not too bad. I've seen city centre wards get that in summer, when the sun comes out and all the students go drinking!

[Andrew_S]

Mar 2, 2018 0:56:42 GMT mboy said:

Not too bad. I've seen city centre wards get that in summer, when the sun comes out and all the students go drinking!

Frustrating that once again we know who's won, we know the turnout, but we don't know the voting figures.

[timmullen1]

Mar 2, 2018 1:08:56 GMT Andrew_S said:

Mar 2, 2018 0:56:42 GMT mboy said:

Not too bad. I've seen city centre wards get that in summer, when the sun comes out and all the students go drinking!

Frustrating that once again we know who's won, we know the turnout, but we don't know the voting figures.

From @eastdevonlibdem on Twitter (the Tim isn’t me by the way):

Figures as noted by Tim:
Exmouth Town ward by-election figures

District Council LD 187 Ind 176 Tory 142 Labour 86 Green 71;

Town council: LD 252 Tory 156 Green 152 Labour 96

[yellowperil]

Mar 2, 2018 2:03:25 GMT timmullen1 said:

Mar 2, 2018 1:08:56 GMT Andrew_S said:

Frustrating that once again we know who's won, we know the turnout, but we don't know the voting figures.

From @eastdevonlibdem on Twitter (the Tim isn’t me by the way):

Figures as noted by Tim:
Exmouth Town ward by-election figures

District Council LD 187 Ind 176 Tory 142 Labour 86 Green 71;

Town council: LD 252 Tory 156 Green 152 Labour 96

The Tim is probably  Tim Dumper  aka tim13. Very interesting to compare the two elections  and seeing pretty exactly where the Indy votes came from.  I wonder how many of all the votes were pvs- the great majority of them I would guess. Case for making elections at this time of year all-postals?

[andrewp]

East Devon, Exmouth Town

LD 187 28.2% ( -2.8%)
Ind 176 26.6% ( from nowhere)
C 142 21.5% (-3.6%)
Lab 86 13.0% ( - 7.7%)
Green 71 10.7% (-12.6%)

[Chris from Brum]

Mar 2, 2018 2:32:11 GMT yellowperil said:

Case for making elections at this time of year all-postals?

I don't think so.  Conditions such as we're experiencing right now are very uncommon.  What was it like in the equivalent week last year?  And the year before that?  We cope pretty well with it being quite parky and pretty damp, and even with it being a bit breezy.  Siberian chill is something else.

[timmullen1]

Mar 2, 2018 8:23:35 GMT Chris from Brum said:

Mar 2, 2018 2:32:11 GMT yellowperil said:

Case for making elections at this time of year all-postals?

I don't think so.  Conditions such as we're experiencing right now are very uncommon.  What was it like in the equivalent week last year?  And the year before that?  We cope pretty well with it being quite parky and pretty damp, and even with it being a bit breezy.  Siberian chill is something else.

I’d argue for all postal voting irrespective of weather conditions, it works in Oregon and Washington, but that’s probably for another thread.

More pertinently, I think this week has shown a flaw in election law that allows no flexibility to postpone an election (even if only for 24 hours). It seems pretty farcical that Devon and Cornwall Police and Police Scotland, along with the Transport Minister in the Scottish Executive, are all over the media pretty near begging people not to leave home, and yet those people are being asked to go out and vote.

[Crimson King]

tbf the 'dont travel' appeals are about driving down the motorways/trying to get on a train, not wrapping up warm and walking to the shops/pub/polling station

[Chris from Brum]

Mar 2, 2018 8:55:00 GMT timmullen1 said:

I’d argue for all postal voting irrespective of weather conditions, it works in Oregon and Washington, but that’s probably for another thread.

And I'd argue against it with very strict rules for exemptions, e.g. health and mobility, absence on work/holiday only.  Postal voting has been seen to lead to corrupt practices and vote farming.  Individual voting in the seclusion of the polling booth is a safeguard against that.

But as you say, that's perhaps for another thread.

[timmullen1]

Mar 2, 2018 8:59:28 GMT Crimson King said:

tbf the 'dont travel' appeals are about driving down the motorways/trying to get on a train, not wrapping up warm and walking to the shops/pub/polling station

Maybe, but then my experience yesterday was that the roads were less dangerous than pavements; schools were closed yesterday, and at least one in my Council Ward that is used as a polling station, was completely inaccessible because the only unadapted road accessing it was impassable, and, looking at the TV pictures, we got off extremely lightly compared to other areas.

However I was trying to make a wider point, not just about the weather; there was the link posted on here yesterday about armed police being deployed in Exmouth yesterday - what if that had necessitated closing the road to a polling station?

I’m not advocating routinely abandoning by-elections because of a minor inconvenience, and maybe any postponement should need the authorisation of a High Court judge or similar, but there should surely be a degree of flexibility within the system to provide for extreme and exceptional circumstances?