By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor
All the votes cast in today’s local elections across Croydon will be left unverified somewhere in the Fairfield Halls for at least 10 hours after the polls close.
Elaine Jackson, the council’s interim chief executive and the Returning Officer for the elections of Croydon’s Mayor and 70 councillors across the borough’s 28 wards, refused to comment when Inside Croydon asked her to explain how she intended to ensure that the votes will be tamper-proof.
When the polls close at 10pm, the ballot boxes from Croydon’s 153 polling stations, from Crystal Palace in the north to Coulsdon in the south, will be taken to the count venue, which this year is the Fairfield Halls arts complex on Park Lane. At most local authorities, the ballot boxes, once delivered and unloaded, would immediately be verified by election officials while observed by the various parties’ election agents, prior to the count beginning as soon as possible, and with results being declared through the night.
Returning officer: Elaine Jackson
But not in Croydon in 2026.
Jackson has decided to extend the vote count over two days, with voting in the mayoral election not being counted until tomorrow, Friday May 8, while votes in the local election count will only begin at 9am on Saturday – 35 hours after the polls closed.
“Verification for both counts will begin at 8am on Friday May 8, ” a statement from the council says.
That’s a 10-hour gap between the ballot boxes being secure in the polling stations and the votes being verified
“You have to say it will be a matter of serious concern that people’s votes will remain unverified for such a long time, under uncertain security arrangements,” one experienced Croydon politico told Inside Croydon.
“Ballot boxes could go missing, and no one would be any the wiser.”
Croydon’s arrangements this year reflect the experience from 2022, when an overnight count at Trinity School starting just before midnight on Thursday dragged on until tea time on the Sunday, in what was an omnishambles of disorganiation, making Croydon a laughing stock across the country. Jackson, who was then the council’s assistant chief executive, will have been a leading figure in the organisation of the 2022 count.
That count began badly, when some election agents and observers were denied access to monitor the verification. “It is an essential part of the process, to ensure all is done correctly, for election agents to be able to oversee the verification of the votes.”
According to the Electoral Commission, “The verification of the used, unused and spoilt ballot papers is a legal requirement, and is central to the declaration of accurate results.”
Verification is the tallying up process when the number of ballot papers issued is checked against the number of votes cast. “This is a record of the number of ballot papers expected and the number of ballot papers counted, along with an explanation for any variances.
“Any agent may make a copy of this,” says the Electoral Commission’s advice to Returning Officers and election officials. “You should make copies available for the agents present once verification has been completed.
“The verification statement is a key communication tool that will help to ensure that candidates and agents are confident that the processes at the verification and count are transparent and that they will produce an accurate result.
“As with all aspects of the verification and count process, transparency is key and the process followed should be clear to all present.”
According to Croydon Council, “Once we have verified the ballot papers for both the Mayoral and council elections, the ballot papers for the council elections will be placed back in the ballot boxes and sealed.
“Those boxes will remain in the count areas in locked cages until Saturday morning, when we will begin counting the votes for the council elections.”
And the council also said: “Security staff will remain on duty all night with the ballot boxes containing the council ballot papers.”
The council says that candidates will have the option to place their own seals on ballot boxes following the completion of the verification.
Count base: the Fairfield Halls have been booked for three days for Croydon’s election count, the first time the counil-owned arts venue has been used for elections in 20 years
“What remains a concern,” according to one source who has been an observer at election counts for many years, “is that unaccountable period between the ballot boxes arriving and the verification process starting the next day.
“It presents candidates and agents with a long, additional period before they can begin to do their jobs at the count, and a period where security at the Fairfield Halls will need to be perfect.”
Polling stations across the borough opened at 7am. They will close at 10pm, after which you will not be allowed to cast your votes – in the mayoral and local council elections – unless you have managed to make it into any queue at the polling station before the 10pm deadline.
All registered voters have been allocated to a specific polling station and can only vote at that station. All voters were sent a poll card at the beginning of April, with information about where your polling station is located. You can also use a polling station finder to find your polling station using your home postcode.
Following a review of Croydon’s polling districts and polling stations in 2024, some new polling stations will be used at these elections. You may have a different polling station today from previous elections, “so please check your poll card carefully before you go to vote”, the council says.
You do not need your polling card to vote (though it speeds up the check-in process with staff).
But everyone must produce approved photo ID before they are provided with their ballot papers. Visit the Electoral Commission website by clicking here to check what forms of ID are accepted at polling stations.
Some votes have already been verified, even before the polls opened today – postal votes.
Some agents and candidates will have been present at the council offices earlier this week for the initial checks on the thousands of votes submitted by post. Indications from this highly confidential process confirmed that voting in the mayoral elections will be very close.
Because of Jackson’s decision to extend the election count over three days, this year, for the first time since 2010, there will be no Inside Croydon overnight rolling election report. We will be providing a live reporting service from the count throughout Friday and Saturday, until the final councillor is elected, as well as offering in-depth and informed analysis of the outcome, with a special Croydon Insider podcast, exclusive content for our paying subscribers, to be recorded on Sunday.
Provided, of course, the election count has finished by then, that is…
For more information on where to vote on May 7 and who is standing for election, use our widget here:
Find election information at
WhoCanIVoteFor.co.uk
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