Election Fraud: Labour Failed To Act, Say MPs

Ministers have failed to act decisively against postal ballot fraud because they fear stirring up controversy in ethnic minority communities where most cases of abuse have been uncovered, senior Labour MPs admitted today in an article penned by Guardian Political Editor Patrick Wintour. One MP conceded that the government had also been reluctant to tighten procedures in case it depressed the Labour vote.

The criticism, made on the eve of the local elections, comes from the Labour-controlled Public Administration Select Committee as part of its inquiry into the government's constitutional reforms. It is likely to demand the introduction of some form of individual - rather than household - registration, which would require photo ID. The committee believes ministers have been resisting change for three years despite calls from the Electoral Commission to tighten procedures to prevent identity fraud.

Man Charged Over Election Fraud

A former parish councillor in Hampshire has been charged after an investigation into alleged electoral irregularities, according to the BBC. John Hall, of Coriander Way, Whiteley, was charged at the weekend following a police inquiry into proxy voting in the Whiteley ward of Winchester. The 67-year-old is accused of with making a false instrument under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981. Mr Hall also faces charges of falsely registering information and making a false proxy voting application. The Conservative activist will appear at Guildford Magistrates' Court on Friday, 2 May.

At the 2007 election for Winchester City Council, the Conservatives retained power with 29 seats ahead of the Liberal Democrat with 23 seats, four independents and one Labour representative. One third of the council seats will be contested at the local elections on Thursday this week.

UK Electoral System "Falls Short Of International Standards"

The news this morning has been filled with reports of the findings of the report into the electoral system published by Joseph Rowntree Trust. The shocking headline conclusion, reported by the BBC, is that elections in the UK fall short of international standards with the system vulnerable to fraud, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust claims. The media was not slow in spotting the irony of this conclusion at a time when the British Government has been criticising Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF over the elections in Zimbabwe.

The report attacks the state of the country’s electoral registers, which often include voters who are dead, fictitious or have a vote registered elsewhere. In some areas, particularly those with many migrants, up to a third of eligible voters may be missing from the roll. The Trust calls for an urgent overhaul, including making voters show photographic ID to get a ballot paper. It also calls for the cleansing of electoral registers to ensure that all names are legitimate. Thousands of "phantom" voters have just been removed or have disappeared from the register in Peterborough after the council drew up a new electoral roll.

The Electoral Commission said that more reforms were needed. "We continue to urge the Government to replace the system of household registration with individual voter registration," a spokesman said. "In many parts of the UK, structures for delivering elections are stretched to breaking point." The Ministry of Justice said that the Government had taken significant steps to protect the electoral process, including new penalties for vote fraud.

Arrest In Election Fraud Inquiry

According to news reports from BBC Wales, a 54-year-old woman has been arrested by South Wales Police over allegations relating to election offences. She was arrested in Swansea on Saturday and interviewed but was later released on bail pending further enquiries. The BBC also reports that police are investigating an alleged case of election fraud in the city involving a forged signature on a Conservative nomination paper. A Tory council candidate has resigned, although it is understood the electoral fraud case is not related to his nomination. Norman Whitlock was responsible for overseeing nominations for a number of candidates in the Swansea area.

Election Campaigner Charged Over Rigging Bid

Police have charged a political activist with attempting to rig one of Thursday's local elections, according to The Hampshire Daily Echo. John Hall, who has been campaigning for the Meon Valley Conservatives in Whiteley, is accused of applying for a proxy vote without the person's permission. The fiercely-contested Winchester City Council ward was won by the Tories at the last election by tightest of margins, beating the Liberal Democrats by just 19 votes.

The 67-year-old, a former Whiteley parish councillor, is due to appear in court the day after the elections. Police launched an investigation into apparent voting irregularities after a member of the public complained to the council. Hall, of Coriander Way, Whiteley, has been volunteering for the local Tory party, but was not himself standing for election. It is understood he has now been suspended from the party. Hall has been charged with false registration information, false proxy voting application and making a false instrument.

Four More Arrests In Election Fraud Probe

Police have arrested four more men in connection with election fraud in Slough, according to the Slough & Windsor Observer, on suspicion of perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The men, who police have not yet named, are aged between 30 and 50. They were taken to a Thames Valley police station where they will be interviewed by detectives. These men are the latest in a long line of people embroiled in the vote-rigging saga which took place in the Slough local elections last year where former councillor Eshaq Khan ousted long-standing Lydia Simmons with bogus voters. On Tuesday last week six Slough men crammed into Slough Magistrates to face election fraud charges. This included deputy mayor, Cllr Mohammed Aziz who is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and four counts of applying for postal votes as another person.

Council Issues Election Fraud Warning

According to The Telegraph & Argus, Bradford Council and the police have issued a warning they will be taking a tough stance on allegations of electoral fraud. The statement comes as more than 50,000 postal ballot papers are being posted out next week across ahead of the forthcoming local elections on Thursday, May 1.

This year West Yorkshire Police, Bradford Council's chief executive and returning officer Tony Reeves, electoral fraud experts from the Crown Prosecution Service and the Electoral Commission are co-operating even more closely to ensure the elections are run fairly and safely. It follows eight allegations of impropriety at last year's Bradford Council election, none of which resulted in any action. In addition, a high-profile case is proceeding through the courts with seven men accused of vote-rigging in the run-up to the 2005 general election.

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.

Labour Peer Points Finger At Ethnic Minority Vote Riggers

According to a report in 24dash.com, Labour peer Lord Campbell-Savours has claimed that election fraud is concentrated in ethnic minority communities. He told the Lords at question time that the Government to direct its efforts to stamp out fraud on minority communities and not the population a whole, saying: "Much of this fraud is centred on the ethnic minority community. Junior justice minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath denied that there was a serious problem but agreed with targeting of minority communities, telling the Upper House: "I think the best way forward is for the Electoral Commission to continue its work in giving general advice but also to make sure that where targeted information is appropriate they should also target their efforts." But veteran Liberal Democrat campaigns strategist Lord Rennard said: "The vast majority of crime in this country is actually unreported and therefore not prosecuted. Therefore the recent scandals over postal vote abuse in places such as Birmingham and Slough may be the tip of the iceberg." The UK should now accept individual voter registration or abandon postal voting on demand.