Month: June 2016

EU referendum: When are we likely to know?

One, two, three …

Earlier today, the provisional size of the UK and Gibraltar electorate voting in the EU referendum was shown as 46,499,537 1 and we now have to wait for the 382 local voting areas to count and announce. The counting areas for Sunderland & Foyle in Northern Ireland predicted that their counts would be announced around 12:30am which, as far as I can tell, seems to be the earliest announcement. 2

The Chair of the Electoral Commission is the Chief Counting Officer responsible for certifying the outcome of the referendum and will be based in Manchester Town Hall. The Chief Counting Officer will only declare the national referendum result from there once all regional totals and the total for Northern Ireland have been approved and declared. 3

The estimated time for the national declaration is around breakfast time on Friday 24 June, although there is considerable uncertainty about when this will be given that it is dependent on all 382 local totals being declared. 4

    Footnotes
  1. The final electorate for the referendum cannot be confirmed until 9pm on polling day: EU referendum count information, | The Electoral Commission
  2. There’s a handy spreadsheet outlining the estimated declaration times for each local counting area embedded within “EU Referendum count processes and results” | The Electoral Commission
  3. EU Referendum count processes and results, p2 | The Electoral Commission
  4. EU Referendum count processes and results, p3 | The Electoral Commission

EU referendum: How much lower can we all sink?

As we go to the polls to vote on the referendum that asks “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” 1 a poll by Sky News,

shows that on the issue of respect, half of voters (50%) say they now have less of it for politicians, compared with 8% who say they have engendered more respect during the campaign. 2

while Professor Michael Dougan of The University of Liverpool Law School commented,

I have just watched with increasing dismay as this referendum debate has unfolded. I have to say although the remain campaign have not exactly covered themselves in glory at points with their use of dodgy statistics, I think the leave campaign has degenerated in to dishonesty really on an industrial scale. There is no other way to put it, on an industrial scale. 3 (Video)

Regardless of what happens over the next few hours, I hope the level of political debate – both in quality of the words and the tone and style in which it is conducted – improves significantly soon. How much lower can we all sink?

Footnotes

  1. EU referendum question assessment | The Electoral Commission
  2. EU Campaign Damages Respect For Politicians | Sky News, 22nd June 2016
  3. Transcript: Professor Michael Dougan on the EU Referendum | University of Liverpool, 22nd June 2016