Preparations under way in Highlands for local government election next May
At Friday's meeting of The Highland Council members agreed the resources required to run the elections to take place on Thursday May 5 2022 and were advised that preparations were already underway to ensure its successful delivery.
The total cost is estimated to be £550,000, excluding potential Covid costs. For this election, the Scottish Government has put a National Framework Agreement in place to deliver the printing of the ballots and the electronic counting of the votes.
As the Local Government Boundary proposal for Highland was rejected by Parliament in October, the current council membership and ward boundaries with its 74 members elected across 21 wards and respective 3 or 4 members remains in place and unchanged.
The council’s current polling scheme which lists the venues used for poll will be used. However, to minimise disruption to schools and pupils, and as previously agreed an in-service day for all Highland schools is in place on May 5 and because of the exam period, no secondary schools will be used as polling stations.
The election team will continue to work closely with the Electoral Management Board, the Scottish Government and The Electoral Commission to ensure compliance with all directions before, during and after the election.
Returning Officer Donna Manson said: “It is a huge undertaking to deliver the election and involves all council services in one way or another, as well as our dedicated small elections team, other staff from across our services will be assisting in the lead up to next May.
“As an inclusive council we need people from all backgrounds and experiences who reflect the communities they live in to put themselves forward for the election.
"To encourage candidates to stand and answer any queries, our team will be holding road shows within the wards and work is already underway to make an in-house video is reflect what the job entails to be a councillor in the Highlands. Also, prior to the start of the nomination period, we’ll hold an on-line information session about the nomination process to assist prospective candidates.”
Voters will go to the poll on Thursday May 5 and the count will take place electronically in Inverness Leisure Centre on Friday May 6.
Since beginning of 2021 and at the recent Fort William and Ardnamurchan by-election, the council’s corporate communications team has introduced live streaming and increased the social media footprint through various channels including TikTok to encourage over 16 year olds to vote.
Theinnovation, which enhances and increases the overall transparency of the election processes, has been recognised nationally and the team will continue to develop this area for the upcoming May election.