22 April 2005
Returning officers are calling for television advertisements to be aired in the run-up to the general election to show people how to use their postal votes.
David Monks, chair of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers' election panel, made the request to senior civil servants at an unprecedented high-level meeting on April 21. The talks, taking place in the House of Lords, have been called amid growing fears that postal voting fraud could be rife at next month's election.
Monks wants to see the 'public service announcements' aired at peak times, such as the breaks in episodes of Coronation Street. The adverts should give postal voters 'points to follow'.
This could include advice on how to fill ballots out, encourage people to put the vote in the post themselves and not to send ballots to party workers.
The announcements would also seek to reassure other voters that all was being done to prevent fraud, said Monks, who is also the chief executive at Huntingdonshire District Council. 'I am going to suggest that [we have the announcements] and I hope the idea will be taken up,' he said before the meeting.
Also attending were police chiefs, Royal Mail representatives and members of the Association of Electoral Administrators. It is the first time such a meeting has been called before an election.
Returning officers will also call for the deadline to apply for a postal vote to be pushed forward in future elections to make it easier for officials to check ballots. The deadline for applications this time is April 26.
Some 6.5 million people, 15% of the electorate, are expected to use a postal vote next month.
Fears of further incidents of fraud were reflected by events in Birmingham this week. The council has drafted in an outside team to oversee the elections, led by Nigel Buttler, formerly an elections officer at Oxfordshire County Council.
Earlier this month, six Birmingham councillors were found guilty of election-rigging with the judge comparing postal electoral arrangements to those of a 'banana republic'.
One Birmingham councillor was set to launch a High Court challenge to postal vote controls on April 21. If John Hemming's attempt is successful, it could delay the election.
PFapr2005
