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Aberdeenshire Council to use Twitter for election count first

Aberdeenshire residents can keep up with the north-east’s Holyrood election and Westminster electoral referendum counts via Twitter on count day.

For the first time Aberdeenshire Council’s communications team will tweet regular updates from the count venue – Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) on Thursday, May 5 and Friday, May 6 via the social networking site.

The authority’s Twitter account, http://twitter.com/Aberdeenshire, was created in 2009 to keep residents up-to-date with the latest news from the council by providing a direct link to news releases and other information.

This is the first time the account, which has more than 2,000 followers, will be used to provide real-time updates and comments from an event.

The Scottish Parliamentary Election count will be held after polling places close at 10pm on the evening of May 5 and the electoral reform ballot will be counted the following afternoon, from 4pm.

Tweets will be posted throughout polling day and during the counts to provide a unique insight into the election process after the polls close and give the latest news and other information from the AECC.

Returning Officer and Chief executive of Aberdeenshire Council, Colin Mackenzie, said: “Our Twitter account is proving extremely popular as it provides the latest news from the authority and using it during an election count is a first for the council.

“This is an interesting addition to our elections communications work and will allow people to keep up with what is happening at their local count while they are watching the election coverage at home.

“A lot of work has been done to encourage residents to register to vote and cast their ballot on May 5, and our Twitter feed will keep voters informed with what is happening at the AECC as their votes are counted.”

The election results for Aberdeenshire constituencies will be tweeted as soon as they are announced by Mr Mackenzie at the count.

He said: “There has been significant growth in the use of social networking and it is important the council keeps pace with developments in this area to allow us to communicate important messages to as many residents as possible, across a variety of channels.

“We are delighted our Twitter account is proving so popular and our number of followers has doubled in six months, including: residents, businesses and other organisations.

“The account also announces school closures via an automated system on our website which has been very effective during the winter months. By making use of social networking in these ways we can reach a large audience who may not have previously engaged with the work of, or messages from, the council.”

To follow Aberdeenshire Council on Twitter navigate to http://twitter.com/Aberdeenshire and click ‘Follow.’

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