Bolton Local Elections - Postal Voting

Postal voting, whereby a ballot paper is sent to a person’s address and they then fill it out and return it by post, has been allowed in some form or other since it was first introduced for servicemen after the 1st World War.

Over time, other categories of people such as the disabled etc have been included until finally, from February 2001, Postal Voting on Demand was introduced.

Since then, the numbers of people applying for Postal Votes has rocketed.

I recently asked the Electoral Commission for figures for Postal Voting in the 2012 Bolton Local Elections and the figures in their reply somewhat astonished me.

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The figures are as follows:- (for the whole of the Borough)

Electorate – 196,713

Postal Votes issued – 34,731

Valid Postal Votes returned on time – 24,050

Total No of valid votes cast (inc Postal Votes) – 62,885

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This means that of the total number of votes cast 38.24% were Postal Votes

That is – nearly 4 out of 10 votes were Postal ones

So what? you might ask.

The rub is this. In 2013, the Electoral Commission carried out a study into Electoral Fraud and concluded that one of the main areas for potential fraud was Postal Voting.

They concluded that one of the main areas for potential Electoral Fraud was indeed Postal Voting.

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They also made the following three observations:-

1)         It is also clear that the majority of cases of alleged electoral fraud relate to local government elections, rather than elections to the UK Parliament or other legislative

bodies.

2)         Electoral fraud tends to be committed by candidates or their supporters, not by voters

3)                  There are strongly held views ……….that electoral fraud is more likely to be committed     by or in support of candidates standing for election in areas which are largely or predominately populated by some South Asian communities, specifically those with roots in parts of Pakistan or Bangladesh.

I had asked the Electoral Commission to provide the data for 2012 Postal Voting on a Ward by Ward basis but so far they have not been able to do this.

I am, however sending a letter to the Bolton News on this subject as follows:-

 

“Dear Sir,

Following a recent enquiry of mine, the Electoral Commission have provided me with data relating to Postal Voting in the 2012 Bolton Local Elections.

To my astonishment, it turns out that of all the valid votes cast, 38.24% were by post – that is nearly 4 out of every 10.

They also drew my attention to a 2013 review by them where they conclude that one of the main areas of potential Electoral Fraud is indeed the Postal Voting System. They also conclude that Electoral Fraud tends to be committed by candidates or their supporters, not by voters.

Finally they observe that this kind of fraud is more likely to be perpetrated in areas populated by certain ‘communities’ rather that others.

This year in Bolton, I am certain that the Returning Officer will be aware of such concerns of the Electoral Commission and will be scrupulous in scrutinizing disproportionate numbers of applications for postal voting in these same areas.

Paul Richardson

Ripon Close

Little Lever.”

Let us see if they print it.

They did !!!!   - AND - unedited

Promoted by Edith D Sexton, 69 Chester Ave, BL3 1XE on behalf of  Paul Richardson, 24 Ripon Close BL3 1EQ