This dubious conduct by the Conservatives is not new and keys in with Applied IF Ltd’s forensic investigations into the outcome of the May 2015 General Election (ongoing) which took everybody – the public, media commentators, journalists and professional pollsters – by surprise. Nobody forecast a Tory majority. The alleged fraud under investigation here is not restricted to one party. Google #VotegateUK for more.
In 2005, Judge Richard Mawrey, upon investigating Birmingham-based postal vote fraud, said the UK’s antiquated postal vote system would disgrace a banana republic, and that postal vote fraud would continue unabated.
In May, West Midlands voters will elect a regional (‘combined authority’) mayor for the first time. The Conservative party has made no secret of the fact that it sees success in the mayoral contest as a key to their fortunes in the area and is determined to achieve it:
It appears that ‘going all out’ includes a willingness to break electoral rules.
The Electoral Commission makes it clear that all political parties are expected to adhere to certain rules regarding their behaviour during election campaigns – including how they solicit postal votes and postal vote applications.
While parties are (surprisingly) allowed to invite voters to send applications for a postal vote to their party office, they must make it clear that the preferred application address is the local Electoral Registration Officer’s (ERO), to avoid the suspicion of tampering with applications and the potential for vote fraud:
As the Birmingham Mail article…
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