Election

Summary

The requester asked for age demographic breakdowns and polling station turnout data for the 2021 Isle of Man election, but the Cabinet Office stated it did not hold this information at the time of the request.

Key Facts

• The Cabinet Office does not hold the requested age demographic or polling station data as of 29 September 2021.
• Election documentation must be delivered to the Clerk of the Rolls within seven days of the election.
• Statistics on the youth vote (16 and 17 year olds) can be compiled due to jury exemptions marked on registers.
• A full breakdown of all age demographics cannot be obtained from the current register data.
• The Clerk of the Rolls will announce when election registers are open for public inspection.

Data Disclosed

• 2021
• 29 September 2021
• 7 October 2021
• 2012925
• seven days
• 16 and 17 year olds
• Regulation 58
• Elections (Keys) Regulations 2021
• Freedom of Information Act 2015
• Section 10(1)

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held at the time of the request (Section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015)

Original Request

I seek the publication of the breakdown of age demographics for the 2021 election and a breakdown of turnout by polling station in each constituency.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 2012925 7 October 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 29 September 2021 and which states:

"I seek the publication of the breakdown of age demographics for the 2021 election and a breakdown of turnout by polling station in each constituency."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, at the time of the request, 29 September 2021, the Cabinet Office does not hold the information requested.
Section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 states that a request is taken to relate to information held at the time when the request is received. For your information, all documentation from a House of Keys election must be delivered to the Clerk of the Rolls within seven days. The Clerk of the Rolls will announce when the registers that were used during the election will be open for public inspection in line with Regulation 58 of the Elections (Keys) Regulations 2021: “58 Retention and public inspection of documents: (1) The Clerk of the Rolls must retain for a year all documents relating to an election received under regulation 56 from a returning officer, and then, unless otherwise directed by order to the Keys or a Deemster and subject to (3) below, must cause them to be destroyed. (2) The documents, apart from ballot papers and counterfoils, must be open to public inspection at such time and subject to such conditions as the Clerk of the Rolls may decide. (3) All documents should be offered to the Public Record Office for consideration for permanent consideration prior to any destruction of documents.” At this point, the Crown & Elections team will be in a position to provide statistics of the youth vote which will detail the number of 16 and 17 year olds that exercised their right to vote in the 2021 General Election. This is due to the fact that this age group have a jury exemption marked on the registers so the information can be compiled.

Beyond that, a full breakdown of all age demographic cannot be obtained with the data from the registers. Furthermore, the Crown & Elections team will investigate the possibility of publishing polling station level voting data, once the registers are open for review by the Clerk of the Rolls as detailed above. You may also wish to contact the Clerk of the Rolls, Isle of Man Courts of Justice, Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas who may be able to help you.

Please quote the reference number 2012925 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely