Labour's Fantasy Figures

Last week Andy Kerr was interviewed on Newsnight Scotland about Labour's main policy of imprisoning anyone who is found to be carrying a knife. Needless to say other political parties disagree with the policy.

Nigel Hawks of Straight Statistics has completed an excellent analysis of the policy and he shows that Labour has plucked the costs out of thin air.

Please do read his article.  If Labour can make such gross errors in simple arithmetic what chaos will they bring to Scotland should they be returned as the biggest party?

 While polls may record the SNP currently leading in the campaign, I have my concerns about the postal voting sytem which appears to be quite haphazard.  That's where Labour make their gains.

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A Change for the Good

Since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election I've protested about the use of electronic counting machines being used in future elections.  The 2007 fiasco, which used these machines, saw almost 150,000 ballot paper spoiled - the largest number of rejected ballots in UK electoral history.

Under the new Scottish Parliament (Elections Etc) Order 2010 new measures have included abandoning the human-programmed machines and decided to return to  human hand counting.  A good move.

An opportunity was missed though because the postal voting system also requires some scrutiny.  Postal votes should only be available for those who are completely unable to make it to their local polling station or those who are not in the country on polling day.  With the introduction of companies like this one, postal voting has become a major part of our election process and it's now in the interests of political parties to have big numbers using the system.

Other changes to be introduced for the Scottish elections next May include:

* The reintroduction of separate ballot papers for the constituency and regional votes.

* A longer period - extended by an additional seven working days - between the close of nominations and the election which, it is hoped, will improve the way posta votes are handled.

* Registered party names to appear first on the regional ballot paper followed by the party description, with the option to use the preface 'Scottish'.

The result of an inquiry into the failings of the 2007 Scottish elections concluded that the Scotland Office's decision to combine the names of constituency and regional candidates on a single ballot paper was the main reason for the spoiled papers.  As the Westminster government seems to be intent upon having its voting reform referendum on the same day as the Scottish elections, I wonder if it will be the excuse for any mess next May.

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Voting Reform

There has been much talk in the last 48 hours about voting reform and the type of reform which is necessary for every political party to be fairly represented in Westminster. The Libdems say reform is essential. They mention nothing about the process of voting - not a word.

But, what is the point in reform if the actual system is rotten?

In the past few days we've had international observers say our system is a 'recipe for corruption'. Most of us with an interest in politics would agree. We have a postal voting procedure which is abused and continues to be abused because no one is accountable.

Jenny Watson (pictured above) is the chairman of the Electoral Commission, a quango set up by Tony Blair, and it was her job to ensure the vote could run smoothly. Ms Watson earns £100,000 for a three day week as head of the election quango and is what I would dub a 'quangoite' - she has noved from quango to quango fronting, among others, the Equal Opportunities Commission, where she earned her 'Modern Militant' epithet. She's a seasoned 'it wasn't me' individual. '"We provide guidelines but the responsibility for the organisation of elections rests with returning officers," she twitters.

Each of the five returning officers in charge of polling stations where people were denied their right to vote earn from £112,956 to £227,500 per annum.

David Monks, chief executive of Huntingdonshire District Council, said a large surge in voters was one factor, but argued that extra staffing at polling stations would not have helped because each station had just one register, with one person ticking off names. He said part of the blame was due to a high number of new returning officers with no experience in running elections. "It is not something you can learn from a book." If these officials are unable to learn a new procedure they shouldn't be in the job. I'm sure most of us could learn the system with a little effort and some consultation with those more experienced.

What needs to happen is that we must have some form of identity to be provided with a ballot paper. Secondly postal voting should be stopped except in the most exceptional cases which, as it used to be many years ago, are supported by medical evidence as to why the voter cannot attend in person.

In part of my source article Heather Brooks gives an account of her investigations into election officials. One of her disturbing findings was that officials charged with compiling electoral registers and running elections were accountable to no one. You can read her discoveries (found out only through FOIs) here.

Politicians can talk all they like about STVs, AV, AVplus and any other reform they like but none will be democratic or free of fraud or incompetence until we have the people in charge of the whole process of elections accountable to the electorate. Only then is it worth spending time on reform.

There are far too many highly paid officials within government and arms of government who are responsible to no one. This culture must change before we can be called a fair society.

The present desire of the Libdems to have STV in the country is not in the interests of the country, it is only in the interests of smaller parties. What they should be pushing for is a complete reform of the whole system. That's in the interests of the country.

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Postal Voting Must Cease

A few days ago I wrote about postal voting fraud so I'm not going to reiterate my opinion.

It has just been announced on BBC West Tonight that an investigation into postal voting irregularities covering Oldham, Greater Manchester, Rochdale and Preston have been initiated by Greater Manchester and Lancaster police.

Just in case some of you haven't seen the Express today a headline reads: 'Thousands affected by postal voting fiasco'.

The report suggests tens of thousands could lose their right to take part in the election after the system was thrown in chaos.

Having watched last night's episode of Dispatches, I now know we have international overseers brought here specifically to observer voting. Over the years the have said the UK system is more wide open to fraud than most.

Yet they will permit the corrupt practice of postal voting to continue (or not in the case of those who won't receive their papers in time).

Meantime, a journalist investigating postal vote fraud is beaten up in London.

That's British democracy for you.

Fitaloon has his take on the subject.

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Who Is Really Surprised?

First we have an irresponsible MP who has been tweeting postal vote results and gives the excuse that she was "over-excited." Kerry McCarthy is defending Bristol East. She was anointed as labour's 'Twitter Tzar' - someone who would encourage labour support through the social media Twitter.

I understand all PPCs are given the electoral rules and Ms McCarthy has no excuse. She knows she committed a crime because she has deleted the offending tweet. Surely the people of Bristol East will not vote for a woman who is so ignorant of electoral law. In case you are unaware Ms McCarthy is a qualified solicitor.

That's not all. Police have been alerted to postal vote fraud claims in London. They are 'assessing' 28 allegations but the result of their inquiries will not be known until after the election. No surprises there then and let's not kid ourselves - the practice will be spread throughout the UK in one way or another.

In Tower Hamlets alone the London Standard found some homes where up to 10 so-called 'ghost voters' have been registered on the electoral roll without the knowledge or consent of the people who live there. The report isn't talking about the odd property being targeted in this way but perhaps hundreds.

Canvassers have also been knocking on doors asking those who answered to sign forms. They are targeting homes where English is the second language.

There has been an upsurge in downloads on the postal voting website which some insist is due to Nick Clegg's sudden popularity. I'm a cynic.

I've said before that the postal voting system is wide open to fraud. We must stop postal voting fraud and the only way I see that happening is for postal votes to only be available to those who can prove they will be out of the country on election day, who are receiving disability benefit/DLA or who have some other good reason not to attend their local polling station.

Earlier today I had an email from a friend in England. She said she had had a canvasser at her door asking her to complete the form and they would 'do her the favour' of posting it on her behalf. I shan't disclose the party involved.

An independent Scotland should curtail the use of postal votes. We all have a duty to vote and the majority of the population have no problem making their way to a polling station to do so. I know every party offers a 'chauffeur' service for those who have difficulty for any reason.

Labour introduced this postal vote culture but it's one which should be halted now. It's too open to fraud. The police refusing to take immediate action also concerns me.

Do you really want a country, in another couple of generation's time, governed on the results of postal votes?

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Returning Officers and Count Timings

Last year there was discussion about returning officers wishing to abandon overnight Thursday counts and being in favour of postponing the general election count until the Friday.

The Westminster parliament debated this last month and decided there were no good reasons for the count to be delayed.

Now it appears Westminster have relaxed their ruling and if a returning officer doesn't feel they an handle counting through the Thursday night, all they have to do is apply to the Electoral Commission for permission to begin their count on the Friday. The Electoral Commission has made allowance for this in their guidance notes (3.12)

Therefore public concern regarding postal votes and ballot boxes being stored overnight has been disregarded. David Cairns MP, who initiated the debate in the Commons, was reluctant to discuss this issue and went as far as to say, when questioned, "This is a real concern. It is not one that I was going to cite, but I have seen it expressed elsewhere and it should be addressed by those places that have opted for the Friday count." (Column 81WH Hansard). That's clear then, labour don't want these issues discussed.

Did you know the Electoral Commission publishes a report on performance standards for Returning Officers in Britain? Perhaps you did - but did you know the returning officers provide the information on a self-assessment basis? Let's be honest no returning officer is going to confess to being anything other than nearly perfect.

Also, did you know Scotland now has an Interim Electoral Management Board which is part of the Electoral Commission?

The Scottish government said they were 'supportive' of counts starting immediately the polls closed on the Thursday night and said, on 8 February, the EMB (Scotland) is carrying out a consultation on the issue and its report is due in the next two to three weeks. I can find no report so I presume it has not yet been published.

Changes in the law have created a large increase in postal votes, almost 12% of the votes cast in last year's European Parliament elections in Scotland were postal votes. Every postal voter now has to sign a statement giving their date of birth and return it with their postal vote. This is part of the new measures which have been introduced to counter postal voting fraud.

Are the new measures enough? Can returning officers performances be accurate if they are done on a self-assessment basis? We shall have to wait and see.

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Oh Dearie Me

Oh dear, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, labour members have demanded the result of the Edinburgh East candidate selection process be overturned after accusing officials of presiding over a postal votes scandal.  The poll was won by former councillor and housing convenor Sheila Gilmore earlier this month.  She beat lawyer Catriona Munro by a single vote.

But 15 members of the party, including one of the two scrutineers, have written to Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, condemning the result as 'tainted'. Twelve breaches of the Labour Party's own rulebook and of Electoral Commission guidelines were identified by the members, including the lack of postal vote verification.

Discrepancies highlighted in the petition include that there was no list of verified postal voters. The postal votes were not kept in a secure sealed box at the hustings but were transported in a plastic bag.  There were also only two scrutineers, both of them male, rather than the requisite 12, of whom half are mean to be women.

A Labour spokesman said, "Of course we will look at the letter but there is no evidence to suggest that this was anything but a well-run selection process."

What hope have labour when they can't even read and follow their own rule book. Poor Ian Gray, he certainly doesn't have to seek his troubles does he.

Source The Scotsman

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Postal Voting - Again

It's not my intention to bore you by writing about postal voting again, but I would like to recommend a blog I came across earlier.  Bobballs has an very interesting post on the subject. It's left me wondering why Private Eye said what they did.  Perhaps there is more to come.

On the subject of voting I strongly feel that electronic counting should be banned.  It's far too open to fraud and we can't have that can we. 

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Labour and Quicksand

It appears the labour party can't even run fair internal elections so what hope is there for the forthcoming external ones.  The story on Labourhome shows the disarray within the labour party 'Labour Home has learned that the Erith and Thamesmead ballot box with the broken seal was in fact being stored in a cupboard in Labour's Victoria Street HQ at the time. Furthermore the ballot papers inside were torn up'.  The comments are worth a read too.

Surely few of us are surprised that this has happened given the happenings within the labour party in the past but what do they expect if they try to promote a 22 year old.  What 22 year old is experienced enough to be an MP?  None, no matter whose daughter they are or how intelligent they have proved themselves to be.

Labour are now firmly stuck in quicksand and there's only one way they can go.

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New System Used for Glenrothes By-Election Postal Voting

There has been much talk about the postal votes in the Glenrothes by-election which took place last year.  I'm not sure how many of you are aware that a Northern Ireland based company Opt2Vote was used for their expertise in postal voting. It's the first time this system has been used in Scotland but it has been used in England and the company boasts Shrewsbury & Atcham Council, Lewisham Council, Birmingham City Council, Halton Borough Council and Thanet District Council amongst their satisfied customers.

In their Newsletter No 6 the Glenrothes by-election is described as follows (please note the use of Scotland Region):

The Parliamentary By-Election for the Glenrothes Constituency for Fife

Council was one of the most hotly contested and publicised by -elections in recent

years with an 80% turnout of postal voters. It was delivered by OPT2VOTE’s team of

election management specialists on 6th November and was the first election in Fife

since the introduction of Personal Identifiers (PIs).

OPT2VOTE successfully delivered its Postal Vote Management Solution which

works with all EMS systems and included the provision of a postal vote management

team (including the staff to process returned postal votes) and all equipment.

OPT2VOTE also provided a full print service delivering poll cards, ballot papers and

postal packs.

Iain Grant, Fife Council commented,

“OPT2VOTE provided an excellent and timely service. The system used to prepare,

proof and sign off documentation was simple and easy to use. This was the first

election in Scotland where the Returning Officer was required to verify personal

identifiers on postal vote statements and with the help of OPT2VOTE and its Postal

Vote Management System we achieved 100% verification The staff of OPT2VOTE

were helpful and responded well to questions or issues raised by the Election

Team.”

The Election was attended by representatives from 10 other constituencies. The

event was a great success and OPT2VOTE is looking forward to running more

elections in the Scotland Region.

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