Response 2525806

Response to request for information

Reference

2525806

Response date

3 November 2023

Request

I am reaching out with an FOI request for polling district or ward-level election results for any general elections for which they can be tabulated. I am agnostic about whether these results include postal votes or not, and in fact I believe the latter is necessary as postal votes probably cannot be assigned to any particular ward. I am also aware that some degree of vote-mixing is done at the polling district level. I am requesting this data for use in my dissertation.

Response

I refer to your request for information received on 31 October 2023 and would advise you that the registration of electors is governed by the Representation of the People Act 1983 as amended. Under Section 8 of the Act, the council must appoint an officer of the council to be the registration officer for any constituency or part of a constituency coterminous with or situated in the council’s area. Katherine Marriott (Chief Executive) is the appointed officer for the registration area of the District of Rushcliffe. Her appointment as Electoral Registration Officer is separate to her appointment as Chief Executive and, although appointed by the council, the Electoral Registration Officer’s responsibilities and duties are personal. An example of this is that the register of electors is deemed to be the property of the Electoral Registration Officer, not the local authority.

The Electoral Registration Officer does not carry out the duties on behalf of the local authority but in her own personal capacity. A list of public bodies and local authorities that are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

As you will see, the Freedom of Information Act does not list any person appointed under the Representation of the People Act 1983. It follows that the Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer or any other person appointed under the Act are not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Notwithstanding that there is no statutory obligation to provide this information, the Electoral Services Section have considered your request and, if the information is readily accessible it is provided below:

Parliamentary Election results are calculated at constituency level and there is no form of calculation at ward or any other level for that matter.  We operate a series of mini counts where those mini count numbers are fed into the overall result but those mini counts are a random selection of polling stations and include a random selection of postal votes as well and therefore are not defined at any geographical area.  Therefore we do not hold the information requested and i am afraid are unable to help with your request.