š³ļø When Votes Go Missingā¦
...And Voices Go Silent! š¾
20 April 2025.
In May 2023, hundreds of votes went uncounted in North Lincolnshire. Thatās not speculation ā thatās from a BBC report dated 12 May 2023. A āprinting errorā meant ballot papers in three wards were not included in the count.
And yetā¦ the results were allowed to stand.
No rerun. No second chance.
Just a quiet shrug from those in charge.
The very same day those votes were āmisplacedā?
Doggy-Moggy and I were at the polling station.
Not in protest. Not as a statement.
But simply as part of the democratic process.
She came in with me (as she always does), sat by my feet as I marked my ballot with an āXā.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a quiet moment of civic freedom.
Fast forward less than two years later...
On 2 April 2025, I wasnāt even allowed to speak to a Council officer face-to-face at Church Square House.
Later that same day, I received a ācease contactā letter, vague and open-ended enough to chill even routine engagement.
On 8 April, my friend and I were told we might be allowed into the Town Council meeting ā but only under strict constraints. What we could say, to whom, and when, was now up for debate.
It begs the question:
What kind of democracy are we operating in, when itās easier to walk a cat into a polling booth than it is to speak openly to the people who represent us?
And with the next election now just days away (1 May 2025), many of us ā myself included ā are left unsure. Not just about who to vote forā¦
ā¦but whether our votes, our questions, or even our voices still carry any weight at all.
āWe do know this was a genuine mistakeā¦ We are working closely with the Electoral Commission to strengthen procedures and ensure all lessons are learned.", said Peter Thorpe, the authority's returning officer, and North Lincs Councilsā chief executive said.
This is the same Peter Thorpe who, two months later (July 2023), resigned from the Council! But that, dear Readers, is the subject for another post - stay tunedā¦
š BBC News articles:
Uncounted Votes:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-65570851
Peter Thorpesā resignation:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-66478892
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š If you feel strongly about the issues raised in this article, then consider sending an e-mail to Crowle Town Council (clerk@crowleandealandcouncil.org) or North Lincolnshire Council (customerservice@northlincs.gov.uk) or even Councillor Julie Reed, (Cllr.juliereed@northlincs.gov.uk), and ask them why are residents being silenced?