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"I will dedicate 2nd May 2008 to observing the electronic counting of votes for the London mayoral and London Assembly elections, to help protect the integrity of our elections and to independently verify any problems that occur with e-counting systems but only if 12 other people will do the same."
— Becky Hogge, Executive Director, Open Rights Group
Deadline to sign up by: 1st March 2008
31 people signed up (19 over target)
Country: United Kingdom
Place: London (view map)
More details
Last year, the Open Rights Group sent 25 volunteer election observers to observe electronic voting and electronic counting pilots in England, and to observe the electronic count in Scotland. The resulting report (http://www.openrightsgroup.org/wp-conten...) raised serious questions about the future of e-voting and e-counting in British elections, questions which were echoed in the Houses of Parliament and by the Electoral Commission.
This year, votes in the elections for Mayor of London and for the London Assembly will be electronically counted. Despite the recommendations of the Open Rights Group, the body that runs the London elections has declined to include a sample manual recount of e-counted ballots in their process. This makes independent scrutiny very difficult, and even more vital.
To make sure that we get a true picture of how the May 2008 London elections are run, we need people on the ground in the three count centres across London: in Alexandra Palace, Excel and Olympia. The count starts at 9am on 2 May 2008.
We'll provide you with full instructions on the kind of things that will be expected of you on the day. We'll also supply a factsheet of what to look out for. We'll expect you to stay at your allocated count centre until the count has finished, and to turnaround a quick report for us afterwards.