General election results
We will be counting the votes in the Lancaster & Fleetwood and the Morecambe & Lunesdale constituencies during the morning of Friday May 7. The results will be published on this website as soon as they are announced, which we expect to be on Friday afternoon.
The decision to count the votes from 9am, rather than from 2am Friday, follows a number of procedural changes since the last General Election and the fact that we are counting the votes for two constituencies rather than one.
These changes, particularly in relation to postal votes and signature checking, need to be taken into account in considering the timing of the count. In addition, both constituencies are large geographically and have sizeable rural areas.
Mark Cullinan, the Acting Returning Officer for both constituencies, said: "As a result I am unlikely to have all the votes available at the count until 1am on the Friday morning, and even with a clear run, would not be able to declare until 6am at the earliest.
"On that basis, and with the needs of ensuring staff can operate an efficient and accurate result, I am planning to start counting at 9am on the Friday morning.
"It must be borne in mind that the core election staff will have been working long hours for several weeks before election day and will be on duty from 6am Thursday morning and so to expect them to still be working at their most productive some 24 hours later is not realistic.
"This is the same as the last two elections in the Lancaster City Council area (city council elections in 2007 and Lancashire County Council elections in 2009).
"I am sure that everyone would take the view that the need to have the votes counted speedily is secondary to the need to have them counted accurately.
"In the modern world, and with the latest requirements on running elections, perhaps the time has come to recognise that a daytime count on a Friday or maybe even a Saturday is the right solution for many, if not all."
Date Updated: 06/05/10