The 2003 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Liberal Democrats 23
• Conservative 21
• Labour 13
• Independent 1^[2]

Following the last election in 2002 the Conservatives were the largest party with 21 seats, compared to 20 for the Liberal Democrats, 15 for Labour, 1 independent and 1 seat was vacant.^[3] However the Liberal Democrats gained a seat from the Conservatives at a by-election in Verulam,^[4] which meant that going into the 2003 election both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats needed to gain 8 seats to win a majority.^[5]

The election saw a trial of various voting methods. Voters could choose between e-voting, either by computer or on a touchscreen at a polling booth, voting by phone or by post, or on a traditional ballot paper.^[6] The period for voting was also increased to allow voting from the 28 April to the 1 May 2003.^[6]

However problems occurred at 15 polling stations where the system did not recognise voters pin numbers,^[7] which meant that traditional paper ballots had to be used in those polling stations.^[8] The issues meant the election nearly had to be voided, with the count only able to start over 3 hours after polls had closed.^[9]

However turnout was up by 5% on the previous election in 2002 at 43%.^[10]

The Liberal Democrats gained 2 seats from Labour to become the largest party on the council with 23 councillors.^[9] The Conservatives remained on 21 seats and there was still 1 independent, while the losses for Labour in Ashley and St Peter's wards reduced them to 13 seats.^[9]

Following the election the Liberal Democrat group on the council chose Robert Donald as their new leader taking over from Brian Peyton.^[11]

A by-election was held in Verulam ward on 5 April 2004 after the resignation of Conservative councillor Pauline Buffham, who was moving abroad.^[14] The seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats by Susan Campbell with a majority of 265 votes over the Conservatives.^[15]