Clarke: Police will guard against electoral fraud
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said that he is fully committed to ensuring the forthcoming general election is protected from electoral fraud.
Following a meeting with Chris Fox, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Mr Clarke said: “Mr Fox and I are fully committed to ensuring that the election is properly policed to guard against electoral fraud.”
It comes after six Labour councillors in Birmingham were found guilty of postal voting fraud in last year’s local elections.
Richard Mawrey QC, the presiding judge in the case, accused the Government of complacency and said the fraud would disgrace a “banana republic”.
He warned that there were no systems in place to prevent or detect fraud at the forthcoming general election.
Mr Clarke’s statement seeks to reassure the public that the Government is alive to the threat of electoral fraud.
Following the meeting, Mr Clarke said: “Mr Fox made clear that any allegations of electoral fraud will be investigated vigorously and pursued by the police. The police are working closely with the Electoral Commission, the Home Office and Department for Constitutional Affairs, to ensure that every returning officer has access to, and the full support of, local police as appropriate.
He added that senior police officers and the Electoral Commission had been working together for the last 12 months to develop detailed guidance on tackling fraud.
“The guidance takes account of the judgement following the electoral petitions in Birmingham and will be sent to all forces and returning officers this week,” he added.
Returning officers are urged by the guidance to take allegations of electoral fraud very seriously.
Lord Chris Rennard, chief executive of the Liberal Democrats, said: “If the Government really wanted to prevent the sort of fraud carried out extensively by the Birmingham Labour Party, then they would have found strong support from the other parties for reforms.
“All political parties should now show their sincerity towards upholding democratic principles by saying that they would rule out any extension of postal voting until the major potential sources of abuse have been eliminated.”
