The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council moved his polling station. There are insufficient levels or evidence of fault or injustice to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council moved his polling station to one which was three times the distance from his house compared to the one he used to use.
Mr X said that as a result, he had to vote by post. He also accuses the Council of ‘gerrymandering’ (which means manipulating the boundaries of an area to favour one political party) and says it has placed him in the wrong ward.
Finally, Mr X complains about the way the Council handled his complaint.
As an outcome, Mr X wants the staff involved who have been dishonest, to be sacked.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In 2021, the old Northamptonshire Council was abolished by Order and two new councils (one of which was North Northamptonshire Council) were set up.
The Council temporarily reallocated Mr X’s polling station because of the requirements of the Order in relation to the electoral wards.
Mr X was unhappy because the new polling station was just under a mile from his house. Therefore, he voted by post in the elections.
We will not investigate this complaint. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council assigned Mr X’s polling station. In addition, there is no evidence Mr X experienced any injustice. He was able to vote by post and the Council has explained to Mr X that his polling station will revert back to the old location from the next elections.
Mr X is unhappy about how the Council has defined its electoral wards. We do not have the power to look at this matter.
Mr X is also unhappy about how the Council handled his complaint. The Council has apologised for delayed and poor communication which is enough to remedy any injustice Mr X experienced.
Finally, Mr X wants us to decide if Council staff have behaved dishonestly and if so, recommend the Council sacks them. We cannot tell the Council how to deal with personnel issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there are insufficient levels of fault or injustice to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman