Council offers election results by text

South Oxfordshire District Council is giving voters the option of receiving local election results as a text message.

Voters are in the process of casting their ballots at polling stations in England, Scotland and Wales. The polls close later on today, with vote-counting taking place over the course of the night.

South Oxfordshire is using text message server software from Avanquest to distribute messages to voters tomorrow when the results are in.

The council's ICT manager, Simon Turner, said in a statement: "The system was quick to install, and works seamlessly with our email system. Using SMS means we can offer a wider range of communication choices to our customers."

Subscribers can sign up for results from as many wards as they want - or all of them - by sending an SMS.

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In the elections, 129 Scottish Parliament seats, 32 Scottish unitary councils, all 60 seats of the Welsh Assembly and 312 local authorities in England are being contested. In England alone, 10,500 seats are being contested.