Some voters arriving at a West Glasgow polling station were given incorrect advice about how to mark their ballot papers. Posters at Notre Dame primary school instructed voters to number their preferred candidates in order of preference using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, instead of selecting a single candidate with an “X” under the first-past-the-post system. It’s not known if anyone followed the advice, but a council spokesperson insisted that any ballots would still be counted. Glasgow City Council has since removed the incorrect information.
A constituent who discovered the mistake expressed concerns that the incorrect advice could lead to votes being disqualified in a very tight election. The STV system is used in Scottish Parliament and council elections, but not in general elections. A spokesperson for the Electoral Management Board for Scotland has confirmed that ballots will still be counted and the candidate with a “1” on the ballot paper will receive the vote. There is no suggestion that anyone has been disenfranchised by the clerical error.
Glasgow City Council released a statement in an effort to reassure voters that the incorrect advice had not invalidated the ballot papers. The spokesperson stated, “The error was spotted very soon after the polling station opened and after the first few voters entered. It was replaced with the correct information. No one has been disenfranchised as the first preference will be taken from the ballot paper”. Chris Highcock, the Secretary to the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, confirmed that votes would still be counted, and the preference would be for the candidate numbered 1, as marked on the paper.
Whilst it is always troubling to hear that a polling station has given voters the wrong advice, this particular mistake doesn’t appear to be have had a significant impact on the election results. There is always a small risk of clerical errors during voting, but ultimately the people’s voices must be heard and the ballots should be counted. Voters deserve accurate information about the voting process, and we can only hope that polling station staff can work to ensure that such errors don’t happen again in future elections
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