The National Union of Students has spoken out against poor organisation at polling stations in many student cities, some of which barred citizens from casting their votes as the ballot boxes came to a close.
Legally, polling stations are not allowed to accept any more votes (other than those already in process) after 10pm. Unprecedented turnout in many constituencies, often reaching levels of 75%, proved too much for some polling stations who seemed prepared for a wave of voter apathy.
Problems first appeared when polling stations in Liverpool ran out of ballot papers, however national media reports that additional papers were eventually delivered in these areas.
In other areas - including parts of Manchester, Chester, Leeds, Sheffield, Ealing and Hackney - voters queued for hours in order to decide who will win the closest election in decades, only to have the doors closed in their faces at 10pm.
Queues had reportedly been particularly long all afternoon in some areas, causing some returning officers to take the decision to shepherd voters indoors shortly before locking them at the 10 o'clock deadline. Meanwhile a polling station in Lewisham broke rules by remaining open for an extra half-hour.
Despite polling cards themselves telling voters that it wasn't necessary to bring the card in order to vote, John Mothersole, returning officer for Sheffield Hallam, blamed the "large amount of students turning up to vote without polling cards".
Furthermore, Sheffield University students have complained that they feel discriminated against after being segregated at the St Johns Ranmoor Church polling station, which created a fast-track line for "residents" and another for "students", many of whom were unable to vote despite waiting for two-and-a-half hours.
Police were called to the polling station when the students, who have now set-up a facebook group, refused to allow the ballot boxes to leave the building.
Speaking in disgust at the segregation, NUS President Wes Streeting said: "We are alarmed by reports from Sheffield Hallam that students were placed in a separate, slower queue. Students' unions have worked tirelessly to reverse the trend of low voter turnout amongst students and other young people. What message does this send to first time voters whose votes will not be counted?"
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg - who was contesting the problematic Sheffield Hallam seat - said, in a speech following his re-election to office, that he felt that it was "just not right that hundreds of voters were unable to exercise their right to vote".
In Chester, where Labour won by just 973 votes, over 600 people were turned away from polling stations which also couldn't handle the heavy demand from voters.
The Electoral Commission described the matter as concerning and has now launched a full inquiry.
Multiple Votes and Dodgy Polling Cards
Yesterday, Live! also received numerous reports from Imperial students that they had been handed ballot papers at their local polling station having already voted by post.
Students may register with the Electoral Commission at their term-time address as well as at home, with Imperial students in halls of residence being registered by the college automatically upon their arrival.
Staff at polling stations were apparently "bemused" when students who had already completed postal votes at their home address declined General Election ballot papers when voting in the local council elections - which students may vote in twice.
ICU President Ashley Brown told Live! that any student who did accept a second ballot paper from staff at a polling station was committing electoral fraud and that it was the "student's responsibility" to reject an additional paper.
However one first year computing student was worried that Imperial students may fall foul of the law if they have been registered by college, and told Live! that he would be making a complaint to the electoral commission.
At least one Imperial College student was sent a polling card with an incorrect name printed on it. This was due to an error by the Electoral Commission, who incorrectly in-putted the name into their system from the list given by Imperial. Live! doesn't know quite how many students were affected in this way.
Another concerning matter is that many Imperial College halls of residence received polling cards for international "erasmus" students, who were registered by college upon arriving in October however left the country before Christmas.
When asked whether he thought that the college should notify the authorities that the erasmus students have left the college, Student Accommodation Centre Manager Trevor Johnson said that "this is generally not a problem as its known that this student group is short term".
As of this morning, the election has not yet shown a clear winner. As predicted the election seems to be presenting Britain with a hung parliament. The election will either be won by a small handful of seats or by the party who can best agree a deal with other parties.
Have you been affected by the voting problems? Were you denied your vote last night? Were you registered incorrectly? Were you offered a second vote? Add your comment below!
Email this Article
Print this Article
