Polling, Referenda and Balloting

Polls, referenda and ballots are methods of establishing people’s opinions on an option, or range of options. Have not been widely used historically within local government. Commonly seeking Yes/No responses, the activity does not provide us with the reasons behind decisions. Variations of this methodology include the voting of the whole target population, the voting of a representative group and/or voting followed by information giving and a further round of voting.

They provide a clear choice of Yes/No and will provide statistics preferring one preference or another.

We will use a poll, referenda or ballot when we are looking for decisions on options or a choice of candidates.