Election plan voted down

The voting alternatives cost 760,362 to set up - but led to only a 1.8 per cent increase in turnout.

Sheffield's experiment was one of several around the country and the Electoral Commission raised concerns about the security of the new methods.

Now Sheffield Council's Strategic Resources and Performance Scrutiny Board is also debating the trial.

In advance of its meeting next Monday, the committee asked all city councillors their opinions - and those who replied were overwhelmingly negative.

Members who responded - who were not named - complained about delays, security, difficulties getting through on the telephone, and one councillor said their son's form was addressed in their name instead.

The councillor said the problem was resolved "fairly quickly" but added: "Would other, less involved members of the public have bothered to try to resolve the matter or decided instead it was less hassle not to vote at all?"

Another complained that late arrival of postal voting forms meant "some people who had been promised their vote became disenfranchised because the voting papers had not arrived by the time they had to leave on trips abroad".

"I had three families complain about having great difficulty in using the telephone service," said one councillor. "One person finally gave up after four attempts."

There were also fears students might have found it difficult to return forms in time.

Councillors called for traditional polling booths to be made more accessible instead, - located at more convenient places such as supermarkets, and staying open longer.

At a full meeting of Sheffield Council last month, councillors voted not to hold any further trials of new voting systems unless these are approved by a majority of councillors.

The committee will also discuss a report slamming "extremely poor performance" by council contractors Liberata, which miscalculated the housing benefit entitlement of 19 per cent of all claimants in the 2006-7 financial year.

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