This week’s election violence Short Account explores an incident of very personal almost-violence at one of the pivotal parts of the election process – the counting of ballot papers. One candidate decided an attempt to force a recount was called for…
At the 1885 election for Ashton under Lyne, an extraordinary scene took place when the counting of votes had closed. Ten votes were unaccounted for, and after many attempts to discover an explanation for this, counting continued. The count had finally been completed by 10.45pm – it was concluded that the candidate Haugh Mason had prevailed with a majority of just three, but only if the particular table containing the discrepancies was excluded. Including the table, however, it appeared that the other candidate, John Addison, had won by over forty votes. Continue reading “Short EV Account: Ballot Paper Controversy”