Following a four-month trial, the former mayor of Peterborough, Labour's Mohammed Choudhary (49) has been jailed for nine months after being convicted of vote-rigging. Labour candidate Maqbool Hussein, 52, was jailed for three months and Tariq Mahmood, 40, received a 15-month term, according to this BBC report. All three from Peterborough, were convicted of forgery over a scheme to fabricate votes for the Peterborough city council election in June 2004. The judge ordered Choudhary to pay £20,000 towards his costs and Mahmood to pay £15,000. He did not make an order relating to Hussein. The three were able to get hold of postal and proxy votes which belonged to voters in the central ward and arranged for postal and ballot papers to be sent not to the voter but to addresses with which each defendant was connected. Choudhary and Hussein were Labour candidates in the election - and neither won seats despite the scam. Mahmood was a local Labour party secretary.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Vote Riggers Jailed
Following a four-month trial, the former mayor of Peterborough, Labour's Mohammed Choudhary (49) has been jailed for nine months after being convicted of vote-rigging. Labour candidate Maqbool Hussein, 52, was jailed for three months and Tariq Mahmood, 40, received a 15-month term, according to this BBC report. All three from Peterborough, were convicted of forgery over a scheme to fabricate votes for the Peterborough city council election in June 2004. The judge ordered Choudhary to pay £20,000 towards his costs and Mahmood to pay £15,000. He did not make an order relating to Hussein. The three were able to get hold of postal and proxy votes which belonged to voters in the central ward and arranged for postal and ballot papers to be sent not to the voter but to addresses with which each defendant was connected. Choudhary and Hussein were Labour candidates in the election - and neither won seats despite the scam. Mahmood was a local Labour party secretary.
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