Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill — Schedule 2 — Allowed to Vote if in Queue by 10pm — 18 Oct 2010 at 22:15

Stewart Jackson MP, Peterborough voted not to allow those in the polling station queue when the polls close at 10pm to vote.

The majority of MPs voted not to allow registered voters who are in the polling station queue when the polls close at 10pm to vote.

The section of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill[1] to be amended (page 37 line 26) [2] reads:

  • A ballot paper must be delivered to a voter who applies for one, subject to any provision of these rules to the contrary.

the amendment proposed adding

  • 'including any validly registered voter who presents himself to the polling station before 10 pm but, because of a queue, is not immediately able to vote'.

Particularly given the confusing result of adding the extra phrase after "rules to the contrary", rather than after "applies for one", it was helpful of the MP proposing the amendment, Chris Bryant, to explain the intent of his amendment during the debate[3]:

  • The amendment seeks to rectify the situation that we saw in the general election this year, when, as hon. Members will know, in several constituencies around the land people turned up to vote at 9.40 pm, 9.45 pm, 9.50 pm or 9.55 pm, but could not cast their ballots. Indeed, they were not provided with ballot papers because they could not get through the doors, as there were queues of people wanting to vote.

At Prime Minister's questions on the 10th of November 2010 Nick Clegg (standing in for the Prime Minister) explained why he did not vote for this proposed new clause. He said the solution was not legislation, but better resources for returning officers.

Debate in Parliament | Source |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Alliance0 10100.0%
Con282 (+1 tell) 1092.8%
DUP8 00100.0%
Green0 10100.0%
Lab0 216 (+2 tell)084.5%
LDem55 (+1 tell) 0098.2%
SDLP0 1033.3%
SNP0 4066.7%
Total:345 224089.5%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Philip HolloboneKetteringCon (front bench)aye

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