Features

One half of the Count Centre at ExCel

Visitors wandering around ExCel may notice a large contingent of police officers and security staff; the heavies aren't here for the Grand Designs Live expo. This is one of the three centres across London (the other two are at Olympia and Alexandra Palace) where up to 16.5 million ballot papers for the Mayoral and Assembly elections will be counted.

Under police guard

When the polling stations across London closed at 10pm on Thursday night, the wheels were immediately set in motion for the count. The ballot boxes, containing the hopes and intentions of the capital's 5.5 million registered voters, are transported to one of the Count Centres where they will be watched overnight by police guards.

Ballot boxes

The Count is being done by computers - e-counting - therefore at precisely 8:15am special care is taken to reset all the machines back to zero. This erases from the computers the running scores that it had counted from the dummy ballot papers during extensive tests in the preceding weeks.

A 'Zero' report is then shown to the Constituency Returning Officer and to the candidates or their agents.

At just after 8:30am, the real count begins.

The Numbers Game

• On voting day itself, the election is run by 12,000 staff across London's 4,000 polling stations
• 16.5m potential ballot papers to be counted (across the Mayoral and Assembly elections)
• At the last election in 2004, there was a 37% turnout. The early indications are that the turnout for 2008 will be much improved
• There are 210 scanners that will be counting the 'X' on the ballot papers.
• Each machine can scan 100 ballot papers per minute

E-Counting

Counting the votes electronically is, obviously, much faster than doing it by hand, but the organisers also claim that it is more accurate than a manual count. It is a huge logistical exercise: The London elections are the largest and most complex in the UK, due to the different electoral systems used for electing the Mayor and London Assembly.

Doubtful votes on the large screen

Each ballot paper is scanned and computer software is used to count the vote, or votes, that is cast – if the vote is unclear, an image of the ballot paper is projected on a large screen for officials to look at and to decide whether the vote can be accepted or rejected. This referral process is done in consultation with candidates and their agents.

As is the norm nowadays for most public services, the responsibility of the e-count has been handed out to a private contractor, in this case to the Spanish IT giant, Indra.

The Indra press officer proudly explains that the company has also overseen the Spanish national elections and later this year will be providing their electoral services to the Argentinean Presidential elections.

Serious Stuff

It is all rather sterile and low-key inside the aircraft-hangar-sized ExCel Count Centre. It is quietly reassuring watching the serious-looking staff going about their serious work with a minimum of fuss or histrionics. There is constant background chatter, but it is never loud or overwhelming. It is all very business-like and efficient.

Among the police officers and election staff are some rather anxious looking people keeping an eye on proceedings – they are the Party officials, agents and, in some cases, the candidates themselves. The BNP's mayoral candidate Richard Barnbrook walks around the periphery talking on his mobile phone. But for the most part these interested observers are anonymous: their allegiances only revealed by the colour of their rosette.

The Bexley & Bromley election staff

The ballot boxes from four constituencies are being counted at ExCel. In one concession to playfulness, the election staff working on each constituency wear different coloured t-shirts. Here is how they breakdown in the style stakes:

• City & East… Aqua Green
• Havering & Redbridge… Sky Blue
• Bexley & Bromley… Purple
• Greenwich & Lewisham… Khaki/Sand

X marks the spot

A small crowd is gathered around a big screen watching the official adjudicating some doubtful ballot papers. Some are accepted, where the voter's intention is clear, and others are rejected: Where the voter's intention is unclear; there are too many votes on the ballot paper; there is no first preference vote on the mayoral ballot or the ballot paper has been spoiled.

It's rather good fun, watching the ballot papers on the big screen being judged in this way. It's like a computer game, but with real-life consequences. At one point, a small chuckle can be heard from the crowd: One voter has put a cross in every single of the boxes on the mayoral ballot paper. It looks pretty, but it counts for nothing.