Furious parish demands election recount after Tory candidates win over 3,000 votes each from only 2,477 ballot papers ‘Tonight we have our first council meeting and we cannot be sure that the right people are sitting on the council’

A group of angry residents have launched a legal bid for a local recount after an apparent error led to councillors being elected with over a thousand more votes than the number of ballot papers submitted.

People from from the parish town of Highworth, in Wiltshire, have demanded a recount of the 2 May local election after 10 Tory candidates received more than than 3,000 votes each despite a total of 2,477 people voting.

The local borough council returning officer, responsible for the election count, conceded that there had “clearly” been an error but told residents that, once the result was declared, there was nothing she could legally do about it.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

Met with solicitor

In response, residents formed a “Democracy for Highworth” group and are working to lodge a legal petition in the High Court which would trigger an official recount.

Sixty members met for a meeting on Monday evening and have been making individual donations of up to £100, so far raising more than £3,500 to cover the cost of issuing a petition. They have met with a solicitor who has agreed to take on the case.

Under section 128 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 a petition can only be brought about within 21 days of the result and by either one candidate or four electors – not the council.

Keith Smith, an Independent candidate elected and chair of the Highworth Community Partnership Group, told i that he understands an error was made due to the block voting system used.

He explained: “There were 19 candidates standing for 15 seats and the number of ballot papers were 2,477. What happened was they have something called a block vote where, if a ballot paper has only crosses on it for one party so some has voted for all ten Conservative candidates and no one else, they put that [ballot paper] to one side and count them at the end.

‘People felt uncomfortable’

“There were 265 of those papers so it was fairly easy, that meant that each candidate of the Conservative party would be given 265 votes each. Instead of that someone multiplied the 265 votes by the ten candidates giving them 2650 votes each from the block voting.”

“When the count was announced at 4am people felt uncomfortable but didn’t know why,” Mr Smith added. “Anyway the returning officer called the vote and after that a group of people crowded around her and said ‘this is not right’ and she said, ‘look we are all tired I will sort it in the morning’ which, of course, she couldn’t because once she is declares the result it’s law. It was all too late.”

Mr Smith said that the returning officer, Susie Kemp, later wrote to residents saying that there had been a “transcription error in the terms of block voting” but that she was confident the right candidates had been elected nonetheless.

“We know for definite that the Conservative party candidates were given too many votes each. So this evening we have got our first new council meeting with a town council that, in law, is accurate but in everybody’s mind is not,” Mr Smith said. “We cannot be sure that the right people are duly sitting on the council.

‘We want this sorted’

“Everybody is up in arms, we are a concerned little town. We feel that we have been badly treated and we know that the only way we can deal with this is to go to the High Court.

“We believe in democracy and we want this sorted out. This is not malicious, it’s not Zimbabwe, there is no skulduggery, but it’s a huge error. It is so huge that nobody can sure that they have been duly elected.”

Swindon Borough Council has indicated that it will not challenge the petition and, if the residents are successful, will reimbursed the group for money raised.

Ms Kemp issued a statement shortly after the count saying it was “very clear that there has been an error in the numbers given in the declaration of the election”.

Election result stands

“The votes allocated to some candidates are incorrect. I cannot be certain that this has had an impact on the candidates elected as I am unable in law to recount the ballot papers once I have declared the results of the election,” she said.

“I cannot take legal proceedings in respect of the election […] I cannot and will not give legal advice but I draw attention to the fact that a petition has to be presented within 21 days after the day on which the election was held. That takes us to Friday, 24 May but I suspect a legal adviser would suggest that one should present earlier than that.

“As it stands, those who were declared in the early hours of Friday, 3 May are elected and therefore able to take their seats on Highworth Parish Council.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately, there was an accounting error when the bloc votes for Highworth Parish Council were counted.

“This was clearly a case of human error at the end of a very long night of counting, but a full investigation is being carried out to ensure this does not happen again. We have informed the relevant candidates and apologised.”

Join the i readers’ Facebook group to stay up to date with, and discuss, the latest developments in UK politics.