Campaign begins to save the traditional election night
Ah, election night.
The rustle of ballot papers, the worried frowns on candidates' faces, the joy and despair as the declaration comes.
We political journalists love it.
It's a night when politics is centre stage, and sports halls up and down the land have to cancel their pilates classes to make way for the count.
But someone is out to spoil it for us.
Instead of counting as normal on Thursday after the polls close, .
, but what does it do for democracy?
Might it just rob the election of some of the political theatre that makes them so special?
Imagine having to wait till Friday for moments like the , or .
Logistically, it could also be a nightmare for broadcasters as we try and find a way of keeping enough staff awake to cover declarations on both days.
But apart from robbing political journalists of their night of excitement (and of any sleep) it could be confusing for the voters to find some counting on Thursday night and some counting on Friday.
And as North East Minister Nick Brown pointed out to me, the reason votes were originally counted on Thursday night was to avoid the possibility of fraud.
Having ballot papers and boxes hanging around overnight might not be wise.
Especially as some of the region's closest contests - Newcastle North and East, Tynemouth, and Stockton South could all end up being Friday counts.
to preserve the traditional election night.
It might not win the support of the Thursday-night pilates class, but at the very least we ought to think carefully before consigning the election night tradition to history.
I'm Richard Moss, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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