Authorities in the capital are seeking input from potential providers to inform a planned procurement next year, and the reintroduction of automated platforms in the next citywide ballot in 2028
London is considering returning to an automated electronic system for counting ballots in its mayoral and assembly elections.
Up until its 2021 elections, the capital – which votes on a quadrennial basis for a directly elected mayor and a 25-member assembly – used a technological model in which votes were processed in one of three centres equipped with an electronic system. However, for the poll that took place earlier this year, the city opted to count votes by hand at locations in each of the 14 defined constituencies represented in the assembly.
The change to the procedure was, at least in part, prompted by the introduction of a new electoral system, in which second-choice votes were scrapped, and the mayor was chosen purely on a first-past-the-post basis.
But, according to a newly published commercial notice, the Greater London Authority (GLA) has determined that the next elections in 2028 – as well as 2032 and beyond, potentially – “may involve an electronic count”. Ahead of reintroducing such a system, the GLA plans to conduct a “market-sounding exercise [and] wishes to seek suppliers’ views on the extent of their capabilities and appetite for electronic ballot-counting systems and associated services”.
According to the notice outlining plans for the exercise – which is being led on behalf of the authority by Transport for London – the system in question is likely to be comprised of three main components.
The first of these is “software to analyse scanned ballots and count the results, as well manage the workflow for recording the receipt of ballot boxes, scanning of ballots in the box, the adjudication of unclear ballots, and the approval process for results”.
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The second core element is the hardware products needed to support these applications, including “high-speed scanners and computers, as well as servers and networking equipment for up to 33 sites” across the capital – encompassing one in each of the 32 boroughs, plus the City of London.
The final component of any electronic ballot-counting system would be “the setup and support staff for the e-count locations”.
If GLA decides to press on with reintroducing an automated vote-counting, the implementation of this technology would probably be conducted in stages. This would begin with reviews and testing of the software, followed by a phase of integration with hardware systems.
After this, the integrated platform would be tested at a larger scale. Staff in each of the boroughs will then undergo training and, finally, the supplier and the GLA will conduct the “setup of locations and count”.
In the short term, TfL – which will continue to act on behalf of the GLA if a full procurement progresses – wishes to “understand the market interest” and is asking any providers that would potentially be interested in bidding to complete a questionnaire. Suppliers have until 22 November to express their interest and then complete and return the survey by 11 December.
“Following an assessment of responses received from the [questionnaire] we may hold further follow- up sessions with individual suppliers to gather their feedback,” the notice says. “This will help us to finalise our procurement strategy.”
If authorities do press on with a bidding process, a contract notice is likely to go out around 30 May 2025.
