The Lemon Fool

The results of the recent West Midlands mayoral election need a recount.

This area is made up of seven boroughs, from Wolverhampton over to Coventry. The results for each borough are declared individually, and then the total aggregated.

There is to be a fulll re-count in Coventry.

Surely if the total aggregated result is close, a counting error could be any of the boroughs. However large the majority in a particular borough, the error would feed through to the final result in just the same way the error would if the result in the borough was close.

So DAK, why just re-count Coventry ?


(PS this could of course have happened in London or anywhere else where boroughs are aggregated, so no slight here on Coventry or the West Midlands - it is just where it has happened.)

Each area consolidates the figures across their district into a local figure, the breakdown is shared with the Combined Authority Returning Officer, who may ask for a recount if the figures are close. The CARO then allows the local figures to be shared with the candidates and agents. This is their only opportunity to ask for a local recount. If the local provisional figures are accepted by the candidates and agents, the CARO is informed and the Local Returning Officer is then allowed to declare their local results as there has been no request for a recount.