Oldham at risk of voting fraud

OLDHAM has been named as an at-risk area for electoral fraud in a report that calls for proper ID to be shown at polling stations

The Electoral Commission has called for the further tightening of the rules to stamp out ballot rigging and restore trust in the electoral system.

It came as the UK elections watchdog launched a study into concerns that some South Asian communities — notably from Pakistan and Bangladesh — are particularly susceptible to voting fraud.

Oldham was one of 16 local authority areas identified as being at greater risk of complaints of alleged vote-rigging.

The others were Birmingham, Blackburn, Bradford, Burnley, Calderdale, Coventry, Derby, Hyndburn, Kirklees, Pendle, Peterborough, Slough, Tower Hamlets, Walsall, and Woking.

The commission said it was essential that electoral registration officers, returning officers and police forces in those areas put in place measures to protect the integrity of the vote before the next set of local and European elections in May.

The commission rejected calls to restrict access to postal voting — which has been at the centre of many of the allegations — saying it would prevent many innocent people from casting their vote.

But it wants the existing code of conduct to be strengthened, to ensure campaigners don’t handle postal votes or voting application forms.