The Clacton by-election is expected to cost more than £250,000, with the ballot paper alone costing four times as much as for the general election due to the record number of candidates.
Record candidate count creates logistical challenges
Acting returning officer Ian Davidson, who is overseeing the election, said: “It’s a unique by-election. It’s the most number of candidates that’s ever been in a by-election in this country.”
He added: “We’ve had to work through postal votes, get them out to residents and then the envelope being big enough for them to post it back. So that’s been a logistical challenge.”
Counting process adapted for mega ballots
Election chiefs have doubled the tables so postal votes would fit and allowed counters to work in pairs to speed up the process and ensure accuracy. Mr Davidson said: “We’re going to split up the ballots, so we’re going to do them in quarters because we’ve worked out that it’s much quicker. The ballot paper alone is costing four times as much as for the general election.”
On the overall cost, he said: “It’s higher than the general election for the constituency. We don’t know what the exact cost will be yet but we’re anticipating it will be in excess of £250,000.”
Government funding and local impact
Mr Davidson noted: “The government pay for most of that but not necessarily all. It takes some time to get the money back.”
The by-election has drawn international attention, which Mr Davidson described as “fantastic”. He said it gave him the chance to talk about the area, adding: “We have some fantastic coasts and some fantastic beaches. We’ve also got some real challenges. We’ve got the most deprived area in England, we’ve got the area with the most people with mental health challenges.”
He stressed the importance of the election: “So it’s really important that we get an MP who’s going to fight for us. In the next few weeks we’ve got the Clacton Air Show, and we’ve got about a quarter of a million visitors coming for that. Whoever gets elected, I want them to take very seriously the job of working for Clacton.”
