It quickly became clear on our local election day 2019 that there were significant problems after a boundary change.
In some cases voters had been sent two polling cards with different addresses, 50 had been sent out with the wrong year, and cards had already been sent out for the European election which could have a different station (story here).
While looking into this I also saw complaints on social media about accessibility issues at the new polling stations.
As I began to put the story together, more examples came to light and I conducted interviews to build the story.
After checking that the council was the appropriate body to comment on these issues, I put three main locations with problems to them.
In the meantime I went to visit the location of the most dramatic complaint to see for myself.
It meant I could add the practical details missing from the emotive personal account, such as that there was a level access to the school – but a sign said voting was from the other entrance only.
From the bottom of a steep path, there was no line of sight for poll station staff, who the council said were there to help, to see people struggling. All nearby parking was permit only.
Although directed to the council for official comment, I did get staff at the station to admit they had heard lots of similar complaints about accessibility.
The story had 9,807 views.
During our coverage the council promised to review ‘the accessibility and suitability’ of polling stations and some of them were changed. As such the story let me see local journalism’s important role in democracy in action, at the most practical level.
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