Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott has expressed his outrage at the decision to uphold the closure of Howard Primary School polling station in Moygashel.    

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said:

“I have no confidence whatsoever regarding how this decision was taken. Not only has Northern Ireland’s Chief Electoral Officer failed to provide an explanation for his decision, the matter had been mishandled from the very start.

“The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI) was so intent on listening to Sinn Fein and bending to their demands that it bungled even simple procedures from the very start. The UK’s overarching Electoral Commission was unequivocal last month when it found the original EONI decision did not meet the requirements of the electors in Moygashel district.

“Yet instead of acknowledging he had made a mistake, the Chief Electoral Officer in the EONI took the rare step of launching a token 2 week consultation period. Responses could only be received in writing and had to arrive to in the office in Belfast before the end of the two week period. It was not a genuine consultation exercise in any meaning of the words.

“Nevertheless it is a testament to the importance of the station to the community in Moygashel that approximately 1,300 responses were received to the consultation. Of these approximately 1,050 opposed changing the polling station from the Howard Memorial Primary School to Dungannon Leisure Centre. The reasons for this included concerns that elderly and disabled voters would have difficulty travelling to and accessing the polling station. Yet the decision to proceed with the original proposal demonstrates that the latest consultation was solely for show and was totally worthless. Shame on the Chief Electoral Officer for treating the electorate in Moygashel with such disregard.

“I will now be contacting the Electoral Commission to lodge a complaint with how the process was carried out; not least the totally inadequate consultation period and how the vast majority of responses, over 80%, have been disregarded.

“The decision to uphold the original decision also goes against an independent access audit previously carried out at Dungannon Leisure centre which proved that it was not a suitable site for those with limited mobility.

“Michelle Gildernew had previously described her Party’s effort to close the station as a victory. No doubt that was because her Party hopes it may reduce the turnout in one of the most Unionist wards west of the Bann. I have been in Moygashel on a number of occasions in recent weeks however and the local community is so outraged that I fully expect there to be an even greater desire for them to cast their vote now.

“In 2001, when Sinn Fein members and representatives very visibly prevented the polling station in Garrison from closing on time which quite possibly determined the outcome of that election as the margin was only 53 votes, there was no action taken. Yet the station in Moygashel has been closed simply because of the protests of Sinn Fein.”