Councils across the country are introducing innovative election processes to encourage more people to vote. Jamie Hailstone reports.

Casting a vote may be a tradition dating back centuries, but a small group of councils has been trying new approaches to bring the ballot box into the 21st century. Earlier this year, the Department for Constitutional Affairs approved 16 trials in the run-up to today's local elections, to look at new ways of voting and running the whole electoral process.