Thursday
7th June 2001, 1100 BST
Polls
open across the city |
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 |
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Schools,
churches, village halls and even a chip shop have become polling stations
for the day as the city casts its votes in the local and general elections.
Bristol's eight parliamentary seats and a third of city council seats
are up for election.
Hundreds of polling stations are needed to accommodate the tens of
thousands of people who are expected to vote.
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| I'm
hoping the turn out will be high because it is something unusual.
Let's hope that brings people out |
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| Fish
and chip shop owner Amir Amrabadi |
One of the more
unusual venues is Mr Crispin's, a chippy in Knowle.
It was chosen by the city council to act as a a polling station in
the Bristol East constituency.
Local resident Trish Ball queued outside the polling station for about
five minutes with half a dozen others to vote before going to work.
She said she thought having a polling station in a chip shop was a
great idea and added: "It's local, it's really handy."
Shop owner Amir Amrabadi said he was only too happy to help the council
by offering part of his shop as the polling station. "It is already
provoked a lot of interest. We have been taking many calls," he said.
"I'm hoping the turn out will be high because it is something unusual.
Let's hope that brings people out," he added.
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| There
are 162 polling stations in Bristol |
| |
Council spokesman
Simon Caplan said the chippy was an ideal location for a polling station.
"Mr Amrabadi has offered us a section of the shop and we think it
is a good place for a station," he said.
"We were looking for somewhere which has easy access, especially for
disabled people, and which everybody knows where it is."
Mangotsfield Primary in South Gloucestershire is one of the many schools
in and around Bristol which will be welcoming voters today - and it
means the children will be getting a day off.
Head teacher Phil Moore said he had to shut the school for reasons
of security: "To be a polling station we have to bring the public
in and we can't do that with the children here," he told BBC Radio
Bristol.
Becky and Elaine, two pupils at the school, were planning to use their
day off for fun, going for a pizza and spending the day with grandparents.
They were keen to have more elections if it meant more time off!
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| I
have to make sure I'm not wearing any of the political colours. |
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| Returning
Officer Vernon Hitchman |
Returning Officer
Vernon Hitchman is in charge of 123 polling stations which make up
the two constituencies of Bath and Wansdyke.
He has to make meticulous plans for polling day but one of his more
basic concerns is to choose clothes which do not make him appear aligned
to any party:
"I have
to make sure I'm not wearing any of the political colours," he said.
'I'll be wearing my grey floral tie which I've worn for the last two
elections and which is hopefully sufficiently neutral."
Keith Thomas, the Electorate Services Officer for Bristol City Council,
is responsible for the smooth running of the city's 162 polling stations.
He needs to be alert from 6am today until the start of tomorrow's
count of local ballot slips. By 8am this morning he was confident
that the turn out would be good:
"I've been talking to party representatives at the entrances to polling
stations and they are very encouraged. They say it's very brisk." |
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