The Police are investigating alleged vote rigging in seven London boroughs including Hounslow.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4948232.stm
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The Chronicle today has an actual fact about this story. The investigation involves less than half a dozen postal vote applications which the Council alerted the police about.We haven't heard much from Peter Marles recently - could it be that the person who is trying to stir up concerns about electoral fraud is a fraud himself?
Nicola Brown ● 6956d
I am not clear what this means.What do you mean by Hounslow Council under investigation? Is it the people running the election, the elected members of the Council or a gang who have infiltrated the electoral system and are abusing it for their own gain? How do they do this anyway?
Sarah Felstead ● 6963d
George Galloway IS rather strange though. He'd not waste any opportunity to tar Labour in muck.
Conal Stewart ● 6963d
I'm not sure it is down to the Respect Party but the allegations come at a time when George Galloway has just done a big press conference on the subject. I remember during the last election he made similar claims of widespread fraud but I never heard of any subsequent prosecutions.I'm not sure how they are doing in Tower Hamlets but it would seem strange to call into question the validity of an election they were about to win.
Justin Harris ● 6963d
Oh well, dead people vote for Sinn fein in Northern ireland so I suppose things aren't that bad here yet. But how is this all down to the Respect Party? Seven boroughs are under investigation. Hounslow doesn't have any Respect candidates as fast as I know. Neither does Harrow.I don't know that Respect is losing in Tower Hamlets at all. The local newspaper is saying something rather different.
There seems to be a great deal of excitement about this - front page of the Standard today - with very little detail or specifics. You or I could ring up the police and allege electoral fraud and they would be obliged to investigate. The origin of this appears to be the Respect Party which is kicking up a stink in Tower Hamlets. This could have more to do with expectations that they are going to perform poorly next Thursday than any real notion that people are cheating. I think it is dangerous for parties that are losing elections to start calling into question every election result on this basis. Postal voting is obviously not totally fraud proof but it would be difficult to do in large numbers. The way to avoid people stealing elections in this way, assuming this is what some are trying to do, is to publish the voting percentages for postal votes. If party would have not won the seat if postal votes were excluded then a challenge could be made and a spot audit carried out. If a certain percentage of postal votes cannot be verified then the contest should be run again.
So the activists might be certain people we know about here then?
The constabulary seem to think so. Would it really be any surprise, after the general election cock-up?
The Pseudometer ● 6963d
They wouldn't do that, would they?
Andrew Sibley ● 6963d
A certain party's activists "acquiring" blocks of postal votes before the poor punters turn up at the polls.
So any local gossip on whose been up to what yet?
I'm surprised you are up so early.
William E Hughes ● 6964d
That's right, isn't cut-and-paste amazing? Don't you have any canvassing to do, or have you given up already? :o)))
Account suspended ● 6964d
What a coincidence! An identical post by Paul Fisher has just appeared on the Chiswick website!