Sound the alarm bells again!

Democratic process in doubt.

18 ballot boxes missing? Yet, despite South Tyneside Council knowing this, they prevaricated for six months building up considerable legal costs on both sides, ending up in this story on page 9 of the Sunday Sun today.

“Police have launched an inquiry into alleged election fraud following the disappearance of 18 ballot boxes, we can reveal;
Northumbria Police confirmed they have been asked to probe the results by candidate Ahmed Khan, who lost the local election by 33 votes.
The businessman requested the investigation after he failed in a legal bid against South Tyneside Council to let him examine 88 postal votes which had been deemed “unverified” and not counted. The hearing into the election in the Beacon and Bents ward was held in secret at Newcastle County Court on Monday.
Court documents obtained by the Sunday Sun reveal 18 boxes containing spoiled postal votes have gone missing. The documents describe how the contents of the boxes, disappeared shortly after the election.
Mr Khan, standing as an independent, believes they could have had a bearing on the result because he lost by a narrow margin.
He said:

“I have asked the police, to investigate an accusation of electoral fraud during or shortly after the election. I always had a great amount of faith in the British democratic system but, unfortunately, my experience leads me to believe it is not as it should be.”

Independent councillor Jane Branley, who has supported Mr Khan, said:

“The council have prevaricated for six months while Mr Khan ran up huge legal bills.”

Mr Khan asked Northumbria Police to launch the investigation following his setback in court.

Chief Superintendent Mark Dennett, area commander for South Tyneside, is to make arrangements for Mr Khan to be interviewed. A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: “We have received a letter this week and inquiries are ongoing,” and she stressed inquiries were at an early stage. Mr Khan also plans to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman and the Electoral Commission about the matter.
The request is the latest twist in the long-running row over the election which has seen Mr Khan and the council face each other in court. The council said they were not prepared to comment in detail because the hearing was private. However, we can reveal the council were aware the ballot boxes were missing within hours of the election. They vanished from a corridor where they were awaiting storage. Officials examined CCTV footage of the area involved but were unable to say what happened. And an examination of a skip in the town hall car park also failed to provide answers. Officials responsible for the count believe the contents of the ballot boxes were accidentally thrown out.
A spokesman for the council said:

“The returning officer is pleased that the court dismissed Mr Khan’s applications and ordered Mr Khan to pay the costs of the proceedings. It is to be hoped that this is now the end of these proceedings and so avoid further costs.”

I have known these details since the day of the court case but understood that there was a legal agreement between the two sides covering what information could be made publicly available following the in camera case, therefore I have not commented on the matter. However, now that it is all out in the open it raises very serious questions indeed.

Questions about the safety, secrecy, and security of the ballot, and questions about the administrative competence of the Returning Officer’s team so near to the close of an election count. Surely it must have been apparent in a tightly fought contest that the scrutiny of ballot papers may have been necessary at some time after the count night. One also has to ask if 18 ballot boxes can go missing after a count, who should be held accountable? The whole integrity of our secret ballot system is called into question when such accountability and security breaks down.

Related links 

Sunday Sun – Police to look into electoral fraud claim 

Shields Gazette – Desperate search in skip for lost votes 

Shields Gazette – Police probe into 18 missing ballot boxes