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Haringey Council have had to recall nearly a thousand ballot papers after voters were asked to pick three candidates instead of one. Emergency postal votes have had to be printed and hand delivered to 749 voters for the Hornsey & Wood Green parliamentary seat. The cock up comes just a day after allegations of voter fraud in Tower Hamlets. There, several residents have received up to 20 ballot papers for mainly Bangladeshi names registered to the same address. It is said to be on an electorial watchlist. Scotland Yard have been informed. A Haringey council spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to the voters, candidates and parties affected by this error." There was criticism over the council’s failure to publicise the blunder, the local authority choosing instead to hand-deliver the new ballots with an explanatory letter. Voters have been told to destroy the older ballot papers. The Liberal Democrat's Lynne Featherstone is defending the seat with a majority of 2,395 - Labour's difficulties running the council make it likely for her to hold the constituency. "Everything within our power" A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said anyone suspecting postal vote irregularities must inform police, or the political parties whose members they suspect. A Tower Hamlets spokesman said: "We have done everything within our power to ensure the safety and security of postal votes. If there is an allegation of electoral fraud it has to be investigated by the police - the Returning Officer has no powers to investigate until after the election." Electoral Commission warning Earlier in the year the Electoral Commission called on Ministers to quickly plug the security gaps surrounding postal fraud before the general election. A report showed police investigated 48 cases of alleged electoral fraud after the European and council elections last year - and the Commission fears existing laws are not tough enough. Under current laws, election officers are only required to check least 20 per cent of postal votes by signatures and dates of birth when processing ballot papers. That leaves 80 per cent of the EC's estimated 6.5m people (15% of voters) who have applied for postal votes are susceptible to fraud. This in an election expected to deliver a Hung Parliament. Jenny Watson, chairwoman of the Electoral Commission, said: "We are still calling on returning officers to check 100 per cent of postal ballots and believe the Ministry of Justice should make this mandatory and provide the funding needed to make it possible."
Scarce Resources
Local authorities have been asked to voluntarily check 100% of the postal vote but scarce resources and the delay in counting are hampering efforts to scrutinise the eligibility of votes. David Monks, from the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives told The Times: "It will be almost impossible to check more ballot papers without extra staff. The Government has indicated it will give us extra cash for the general election but we have still not been told how much."
Cases
Just two cases of electoral fraud have resulted in prosecution. In Bournemouth two people received prison sentences for giving false information when registering to vote, while in Cannock, Staffordshire, one person was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment for pretending to be someone else at the ballot box. A trial is set for April for a candidate who stood at the May 2008 election who allegedly applied for a proxy vote in a different name.
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