It is "childishly simple" to register bogus voters in UK elections, according to an investigation by the human rights body The Council of Europe, reported on the BBC news last night. Their report said the British voting system was "open to fraud", particularly with postal votes. The inquiry was prompted by a complaint from Tory MP David Wilshire, following concerns about fraud in local elections in Birmingham, and it acknowledges that reforms have blocked some loopholes. The government said UK elections were "free and fair". Since the UK introduced postal and proxy voting on demand in 2001, there has been a series of allegations of vote rigging - a judge looking into Birmingham's 2004 local elections said he had heard evidence of fraud that "would disgrace a banana republic".
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
UK Voting System "Open To Fraud"
It is "childishly simple" to register bogus voters in UK elections, according to an investigation by the human rights body The Council of Europe, reported on the BBC news last night. Their report said the British voting system was "open to fraud", particularly with postal votes. The inquiry was prompted by a complaint from Tory MP David Wilshire, following concerns about fraud in local elections in Birmingham, and it acknowledges that reforms have blocked some loopholes. The government said UK elections were "free and fair". Since the UK introduced postal and proxy voting on demand in 2001, there has been a series of allegations of vote rigging - a judge looking into Birmingham's 2004 local elections said he had heard evidence of fraud that "would disgrace a banana republic".
If you have information about election fraud in Hackney, this is the place to blow the whistle. You can contact this website confidentially by clicking on "comments" below the most recent posting and sending a comment under an anonymous or fictitious name. Unlike email, this service does not transmit any address information from which you can be traced. The service is managed by the Blogger hosting service but moderated by me, so I will read your comments before publishing and will respect any request not to publish. Bear in mind that, as I will not receive any address information, the only way I will be able to respond will be via a follow-up comment.
A word about evidence. Most of what people think is material evidence of a criminal offence is in fact either hearsay evidence (asserted, but without any proof) or circumstantial evidence (suggests guilt but does not prove it). For an introduction to the subject of evidence, try: