May 2007 Election Report: Findings of the Open Rights Group Election Observation Mission in Scotland and England.

This report gives the findings of ORG’s election observers from the trial projects at e-voting in Scotland and England from May 2007.  For further details, please consult the site.  The conclusions on the Scottish Parliament follow:

The Scottish Parliamentary Ballot
Sixteen Scottish Parliamentary constituencies declared results where the number of spoilt ballots was greater than the winning margin. ORG considers that combining on the same day two elections, using different systems, was a contributory factor to the number of papers rejected. However, based on figures collected, ballots observed during adjudication as well as interviews with candidates, agents and electors, ORG’s view is that the design of the Parliamentary ballot paper was the primary cause of spoilt ballots. Specifically the placement of the regional vote on the left-hand side of the paper ran contrary to voter expectations. This issue was compounded by information posters and instructions from poll workers which often failed to specify that one cross, only, should have been made in each column. Given that many smaller parties stood candidates nearly exclusively in the regional contests, the pattern of voting from previous Scottish Parliamentary elections and the types of spoilt ballots observed; it is ORG’s view that smaller parties were unfairly penalised by the ballot design and associated errors.
The Electoral Commission made an inappropriate use of focus group studies when assessing potential ballot paper designs. The study conducted failed to test any designs with the constituency column on the left-hand side, an oversight the Commission should have corrected before allowing the study to proceed. That the results of the flawed study were presented as key evidence in support of the final Scottish Parliamentary ballot paper printed brings into question the judgement of both the Commission and the Government departments responsible. Both the Commission and the Government ignored advice from the Usability Professionals’ Association in failing to conduct proper testing of the ballot design, as well as of other systems and processes observed in Scotland and England.

This entry was posted Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 10:27 pm and is filed under it law, scotland. Both comments and pings are currently closed.