But the North East had no problems ...at all.

The Times
August 26, 2004
'Bribery and fraud rife' in postal vote
By Dominic Kennedy and David Charter

INTIMIDATION, bribery and fraud were widespread in the June local elections, according to court documents seen by The Times as a report is expected to demand sweeping changes to postal voting.

One postman was threatened with having his throat cut, post boxes were set on fire and the Royal Mail replaced red mail vans with white ones to protect staff, it is claimed.

When the Electoral Commission publishes its analysis of the elections today, The Times understands that it will press the Government to undertake reforms including:

# Allowing each member of a household to register individually with their own signature, rather than relying on the head of household to sign for everyone.

# Scrapping the requirement for a vote to be witnessed, which gave rise to confusion and claims of intimidation.

# Encouraging more polling station-style help points in all-postal areas.

# Reviewing the provision of postal votes on demand introduced in 2000.

# Improving planning after thousands of forms arrived late or were mis-directed.

Some experts believe the report into the simultaneous local and European polls should also say whether certain areas, such as Asian communities which saw the most fraud claims, are unsuitable for all-postal voting.

Police investigations into alleged electoral discrepancies have been launched in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Supporters of all parties were involved in the misuse of postal ballots, according to High Court documents calling for the election results to be declared invalid. Two petitions request a judge to overturn elections to Birmingham City Council, Britain’s largest, where postal vote applications rose from 24,000 to 70,000.

Hugh McCallion, Birmingham’s deputy Labour leader, said that the petitions from the Liberal Democrats and the People’s Justice Party involved “wild allegations” and a “scattergun approach”.

One petition claims: “Attempts were made by Labour supporters in Bordesley Green to bribe a postman and he was threatened with having his throat cut. The Royal Mail also changed the colour of their vans from red to white to protect the postmen. Post boxes containing a number of ballots were set alight to invalidate the votes.
“Threats of deportation were made by Labour supporters to first generation migrants if they did not sign postal vote papers to vote Labour. Postal voters were pressurised by Labour Party candidates and agents into casting their vote for the Labour slate whilst the Labour Party agents stood over the voter watching them cast their vote.
“Children were paid to collect postal votes that were sticking out of people’s doors.“Postal ballots which had been opened, the vote changed and then resealed were accepted as valid votes notwithstanding the evidence that duress (or fraud) may have been used to change the votes (Tippex was used as well as crossing out the vote).”

It is also claimed that a candidate was seen coming into a school “with something under his jumper . . . which turned out to be postal ballots”.The petition claims that the police were called when candidates were seen taking bags of postal votes to a deserted road. Asian candidates were “from different ethnic groups and did not trust each other. They were expected to show the ballot papers to each other to ensure all three Labour candidates had been voted for”.

Mohammed Kazi, a candidate, later said that they they had been “sorting out” the ballots. “No one has explained what ‘sorting out’ means,” the petition states. Mr Kazi was cleared by police of any wrongdoing.

“A massive organised electoral fraud mainly involving the misuse of postal ballots was committed by the winning Labour candidates,” the petition claims.
It continues: “This fraud was planned by Labour supporters and involved informal liaison between Labour candidates in a number of wards as to how to abuse the process.

A ‘blind eye’ is turned by elements in the Labour Party organisation to these activities because they benefit the Labour Party.”Another petition, challenging the result in Bordesley Green ward, claims that an unsealed ballot box containing 1,700 votes appeared at the count. “All the votes were complete(d) in one ink and each and every one was cast in favour of the three Labour Party candidates,” the petition claims.

The votes were counted, giving Labour victory over the People’s Justice Party.
A candidate was stopped by police with a bag containing unmarked postal ballot packs, the petition alleges.Bordesley Green had more postal vote applications than any ward in Birmingham. On polling day, dozens of voters were refused a vote because they had been recorded as applying for a postal ballot.Mr McCallion said: “The allegations have been so wild and flung around like confetti that we couldn’t go chasing all these hares. It’s a scattergun approach to try to end up with a few things the court might be concerned about.”Two petitions are from Yorkshire & the Humber, one of four regions where the Government imposed all-postal voting. In the Halifax area, Conservative candidates for Calderdale’s Park ward describe the experiment as “a total failure”. They claim that electors were unable to vote alone and that votes were collected from households by a candidate.In Hull, John Considine, an Independent candidate beaten by seven votes by the UK Independence Party, complains of voters receiving the wrong ballot papers.

In one ward, 2,990 ballot papers were counted although only 2,659 envelopes had been returned, his petition alleges.

An investigation by The Times before the June 10 polling day found widespread claims of intimidation, vote-stealing and trickery in Yorkshire & the Humber and northwest England.

The Government has postponed referendums on regional assemblies in both areas because of lack of public confidence in postal-only voting.

It is pressing ahead with a plebiscite in the North East on November 4.Edward Davey MP, a Liberal Democrat shadow minister, said that his party opposed all-postal voting. “Our biggest concern has always been fraud,” he said. “Even with individual registration we would still be concerned about fraud. The best form of security will always be a polling station.”