UK election: Arrests in ballot probe as postal vote hits record

LONDON - Police have arrested two men in Bradford as part of an inquiry into postal ballot fraud as a record 15 per cent of the electorate have asked to vote by post.

The take-up rate was welcomed by the government which introduced on-demand postal voting in 2001 to boost flagging turnout, but others are fearful of vote-rigging.

West Yorkshire police said they arrested a 51-year-old man on Wednesday after detaining a 38-year-old man the day before and that more arrests were anticipated.

Bradford Council had referred over 100 applications for postal ballots for Thursday's election to police for investigation.

Acting returning officer for Bradford district Philip Robinson said security checks had been made on all postal vote requests.

"We check every single one. We are working very closely with police to stop ballot fraud taking place," he told the Yorkshire Post.


Earlier this month, an election commissioner described postal voting as an "open invitation to fraud" after an inquiry into a local Birmingham election.

Judge Richard Mawrey concluded Labour activists had faked thousands of postal votes and he slammed the lack of safeguards.

"Short of writing 'Steal Me' on the envelopes, it is hard to see what more could be done to ensure their coming into the wrong hands," he said.

The Birmingham ruling has undermined public confidence and some political pundits predict court wrangles.

"The case throws into doubt the whole election," Chris Game of the Institute of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham told Reuters.

"In marginal seats there will be a huge incentive to launch challenges. What is to be lost in making an appeal?"

His view is echoed by Anthony King, professor of government at Essex University.

"Expect multiple lawsuits from May 5 onwards," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph last month. The Liberal Democrats have already gone on record to say party lawyers will look "very carefully" at tight contests.

Ken Ritchie, chairman of the Electoral Reform Society, said the numbers intending to vote by post would be enough to swing the result in many seats.

The expected 15 per cent take-up was "an awful lot more than winning margins in many constituencies," he said. In the 2001 election 3.9 per cent voted by post.

"There is a risk of votes falling into wrong hands -- either deliberately or by mistake," Ritchie told Reuters.

The Electoral Commission, which has been a strong backer of postal voting although its recommendations to the government on tightening security have not been adopted ahead of the election, has sought to reassure voters.

Chairman Sam Younger said the vast majority of postal votes would pose no problem.

"An overwhelming majority of people who've applied for postal votes have done so perfectly genuinely, are going to return those votes perfectly genuinely and appreciate the opportunity to do so," he told Reuters.

Younger said the commission wanted measures to allow officials to be much more certain about the origin of postal votes.

He said the government had already accepted many of its proposals in principle.

- REUTERS