Electronic Counting Success At Dover

Dover District Council led the way on 3 May as one of 13 Local Authorities across the country selected to run Government pilot schemes - and is delighted at the successful delivery of the electronic system used to count the votes.

The electoral pilot schemes used innovations designed to improve participation and access to elections, enhance security and improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of elections. Each pilot is being fully evaluated by the Electoral Commission. Dover District Council was selected as one of the authorities to use electronic scanning to count ballot papers. DDC worked with Opt2Vote and results were announced in the early hours of Friday morning.

Louise Cooke, Democratic Services Manager at DDC said: "Not only was e-counting a success but there was a 5% increase in voter turnout over the 2003 election. The use of this technology helped us to deliver accurate results in a shorter time."

Nadeem Aziz, Returning Officer said: "We were proud to be involved in the pilot, to lead the way for the future and to help improve awareness of election processes. Clearly as a pilot scheme, there are areas that could be improved upon, but the scanning worked well. All staff are to be congratulated for their splendid work, and we would certainly welcome this as a success."

Ann-Marie Slavin, Managing Director from Opt2Vote said: "Opt2Vote is delighted to have worked with Dover DC to provide its electronic count and their postal vote management security checking with the Opt2Vote signature and DOB scanning software. Complex jobs like this only work when the customer and supplier co-operate closely, we want to pay tribute to the Dover DC team for their vision in seeking the pilot and their commitment in delivery. Opt2Vote see this as an important step in the modernisation of the electoral process and pilots like this will help gain acceptance of this technology moving forward."