to think that people turned away from voting should have got down there earlier?

[aloevera]

They've had all day. Or could have done a postal vote? Or am I too harsh?

Paxman said peak voting is 6pm onwards when people get back from work...factor in traffic, tea time, kids routine, higher than normal turnout etc etc. That's only 4 hours for peak time voting.

I also suspect however, that there were lots of students thinking they'd pop in to vote on the way to the pub (and not having polling cards didn't help).

I've not read all posts so forgive me for covering old ground, but my friend is a nurse working nights last night and lates today. She finished at 7am, slept for a few hours till it was time to rouse for the late shift starting at 8pm tonight.

Not suggesting that all the people turning up at polling stations have been working such shifts, but if I turn up at my local polling station at 9pm I fully expect to be able to cast my vote.

I have to question the 'large amount of students turning up without polling cards' (BBC News 07/06/10), were they maybe encouraged to turn up late in a consituency that they knew would be covered by the national news, aka Nick Clegg's constituency??

There'sn something more to this but I can't put my finger on it. What's to gain from this scenario? Any ideas?

Don't think there's anything in it really - 10pm is pretty much the start of the evening for most of the students I know, and having been told you don't actually need to bring your polling card in order to vote, they probably wouldn't have bothered to try and find it, and a crowd of students without cards, giving their address just as 'XX Hall' would probably slow the proceedings down quite a bit From what I've heard from DD & DS the TV debates have created more interest among students, so it wouldn't be surprising if a lot more than usual turned up.

If you knew you were on shift or would be unable to make it there is an option to vote by post or a proxy vote...

Finding a few minutes to vote in 15 hours every 5 years or so is not that hard - priorities people!!!

They are talking about (at most) a few hundred people - statistically speaking it shouldn't make much of a difference if voter turnout is high (good representation of the voting area) and winning margins are great ... (then again, I only passed Stats 101)

Why is it that most of you seem to have quite a bad opinion of students? I've always voted and was not gullible enough to vote for Clegg

YANBU

YABU, otherwise why close at 10? It's like saying people should pop into Tesco at 7.50pm!

I must be a disorganised idiot then (well a lot of the time I am!) having worked a long day on the ward (7-10pm) and having only got my shifts last week too late for a postal vote. Its not as simple for everyone, remember that.

My parents also just came back from portugal yesterday, they did get to vote but if they didnt it wouldnt be due to being 'disorganised idiots'

My mother and sister were both presiding officers in polling stations yesterday - they do it pretty much every election.

So in answer to a poster's question - they do postal votes beforehand as they can't leave the polling station during their 'shift'.

I do think people should do postal votes if they know its going to be hard to get to the polling station.

People might learn not to leave it till the last minute in future then. It is quite simple, we get our polling cards a month or so in advance anyways, choose postal if you think you can't make it. All you people can say is YABU

Any idea whether the queues were just down to cutting staff?

My colleagues and I all voted on the way to work and saw the longest queues ever, but that was around 4 people/10 minutes max.

Turnout doesn't seem to be up really so must be slower voting.

Locking in isn't an option in places where people vote in a caravan/back of a lorry etc!

YANBU, my friends wanted to go and vote on the way back from the pub and they were turned away. They got there at 9.45pm and had been in the pub since 7pm

Why not go and vote first?

amiedoodle - I don't think what I said constitutes a 'bad opinion' of students, DD is one, DS has only just stopped being one and may be one again and the comment about the polling cards & addresses was actually his.

lol @ rosieo - they should've advertised this bloody election or something so people wouldn't get caught out like this!

I know, it's a disgrace isn't it? If only our polling station was actually in the pub - although there were one or two like this I think! Must have been great for business.

YANBU with regards to those polling stations where students showed up last minute without polling cards, YABU where people were turned away after queueing for considerable amounts of time.

"If the polls are open until ten, you should be allowed to vote until ten. There are no signs saying "last vote at 9.30" - it's ten."

And it was ten. Not 11 or 12.30 but 10.

You can't lock people in the polling station, it wouls be like sardines! And how would you go about ensuring no one new joined the queue?

For Gods sake if someone can not managed to get along and vote in the 15 hours the polls are open then they don't deserve to vote

Agree with mrsbean78

I've never had to queue at a polling station. I tend to vote earlier rather than later just to get it out of the way. But if I was working long hours, but could still get to the polling station by 9.30pm, I would assume that was absolutely fine. It certainly wouldn't occur to me to get a postal vote in those circumstances.

You are being very unreasonble. It is a nonsense to say they could have organised a postal vote to avoid this scenario! If you are able to vote at a polling station on the day, I think it is a very reasonable expectation to do so!

Perhaps I am being too simplistic (prepares to be shot down) but if you are a shift worker and there is a possibility your hours of work may prevent you from voting, why wouldn't you apply for a postal vote just in case?
Yes it is nice to be able to vote in person, but better to vote by post than not all.

DH is in the military and always applies for a postal vote as there is always a chance he could get sent away at very short notice.

Cavemum What? You mean thinking about the consequences of something and taking responsibility for yourself? It's a bit like turning up at fecking Tesco after it's closed and then crying in the carpark. Entitlement at its finest.

YABVVU

This is the fourth general election I've voted in, and never had to queue at all. If I went down to the polling station at 9.30, there's no way I'd expect there to be a queue.

And having (sucessfully - just) campaigned in this election, I can tell you we were phoning people up all day long, until 9.45, saying 'have you voted, polls close at 10'.
No way did we predict to say, 'Actually, would you mind getting down to the polling stations at 8 o'clock, otherwise you won't get to vote'.

And if the campaign managers etc didn't forsee that, how the hell can your average voter?

We are a first world country, this should not have happened. National Disgrace.