Over 200 voters in Sheffield were turned away from polling stations in Ranmoor last night.

Returning officer John Mothersole apologised to voters who were turned away, saying: "We got this wrong."

He said the turnout had been "phenomenal... probably the highest turnout in 30 years".

Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites have had an unprecedented impact on the UK general election and this is an indicator of things to come. Facebook have heavily promoted the election and this has generated record levels of voting in the student community, crystallised in Sheffield last night. Ranmoor has a high student population due to the Sheffield University halls of residence.

Next generation networks such as Digital Region could help prevent situations such as this occurring by delivering technologies to enable online voting. Currently you can only register to vote online, the actual voting process still has to be undertaken by post or by attending a local polling station.

On-line voting has been implemented in European countries and the USA since 2003.
On-line voting would deliver the following benefits:
• Accessibility. Casting on-line votes would prevent voters being turned away in situations such as the events which occurred in Sheffield last night.
• Convenience. People are increasingly using theinternet for transactions, and through its UK Online project, the Government aims to deliver all its services to citizens online to ensure "Digital Britain" becomes a reality.
• It may particularly appeal to younger voters (among whom voter turnout has tended to be particularly low). Last nights election has demonstrated  the impact the internet can have.
• Online voting systems can identify if voters attempt to vote for the wrong number of candidates and notify them accordingly (this was a problem with punch cards in the 2000 elections in the USA).
• Online voting could allow more information to be available about candidates and their policies. .
• On-line voting could reduce the expense involved in setting up and staffing poll sites.

The Digital Region Network delivers the quality and integrity required to guarantee critical information transfer, such as on-line voting.

To take advantage of the network built by your local authorities in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield please call us on 0114 299 7260 or click here to email us.

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