Hundreds of Oswestry residents 'allocated to wrong electoral division'

Shropshire Council has confirmed that the residents in Oswestry were placed in the wrong division and ward before next month’s poll – after one candidate’s agent noticed they appeared to be missing.

There are a total of 23 new divisions in the Shropshire Council area, with the local elections taking place on May 1.

Four are in Oswestry, with North, North East, South, and South East divisions being created.

However, Councillor Duncan Kerr, who is the agent for Green candidate Olly Rose for Oswestry North, noticed something was wrong.

“Hundreds of residents of the Jasmine Gardens/Watts Drive area, who were previously in the East Oswestry division, until a review last year, were missing,” said Cllr Kerr.

“I therefore contacted the election team at Shropshire Council and they confirmed this was an error. New polling cards are now being issued and registers amended.

“With nominations now closed, if this error hadn’t been spotted it is difficult to see how these people could have voted in Oswestry North.

“The consequence may well have been a costly and time-consuming re-run of the elections in two divisions.

“In all my dealings with elections staff during this election I have been struck by their professionalism and patience. It is also obvious that they are working incredibly hard with very tight deadlines.

“I do however question whether, in the light of all the redundancies recently announced at Shropshire Council, the elections team have been given the resources they need to do the job properly. It is something I will certainly be taking up if re-elected”.

A Shropshire Council spokesperson said the residents were not ‘missing’ from the register, but had been allocated to the Oswestry North East division in the Shropshire Council elections, and Cambrian ward for the Oswestry Town Council ones.

“All data has been updated to correct this boundary anomaly and a poll letter will be sent to all affected residents to advise them that they are now allocated correctly to Oswestry North division and Oswestry (Gatacre) ward,” said the spokesperson.

“Electors will be attending the same polling station so will not see any difference apart from which division and town ward they are now allocated to vote in.”