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Plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose

What we had today was

  • A 12 year old boy with a poll card (twas ever thus) (Hodge Hill)
  • A voter who has been left off the electoral roll - who found out when Lynne Jones walked past her door. (Selly Oak)
  • 22 voters who (it appears) will be getting two postal votes (sometimes for the same constituency, sometimes for different ones. (Across the city)
  • 10 voters in Aston who still are getting their votes sent to someone else. (Ladywood Constituency mainly, possibly Perry Barr)

Still it appears that we have frightened off the mass fraud. I will, of course, only be sure that this is the case when I get the list of postal votes from the second batch. We are expecting a level of personation and will be appointing around 100 anti-personation "Polling Agents" in a number of seats. We will also have patrols to bring in the Fraud squad where postal votes are being collected from people.

In the mean time Clare Short has been avoiding meetings with Ayoub Khan.

The police are, however, being golden. Thank you Dave Churchill and the Fraud Squad.

Comments

PoliticalHackUK said…
The youngster with a polling card - that perennial election story is less to do with fraud and more to do with parents not reading the registration form last autumn. The voter left off the roll is a cock-up, but it happens in a city of a million people. 22 voters getting duplicate postal votes - could be that they've moved and have re-registered at their new address. The Aston voters are quite legal, although it isn't good practice.

What's all that got to do with Clare Short? Not trying to smear her, are you? No real reason why the retiring MP should meet with a minority party candidate. She's probably too busy winning to bother with the bloke who might come second.
John Hemming said…
The Clare Short thing is all abour hustings meetings.
Stephen Booth said…
Sir,

I was interested to note, when I got my card, that despite being in a different ward (South Yardley) I am apparently still in the same constituency (Sparkbrook and Small Heath). I had thought that I would be moved to Yardley constituency.
John Hemming said…
Parliamentary boundaries change for ~2009.

Exactly how they end up is not yet clear.
PoliticalHackUK said…
PA forecasts a declaration time around 00:45.

The Parliamentary boundaries will change in 2009, despite the Hemming campaign to save 'his' Yardley seat. This looks likely to form a new seat, including large chunks of the current Sparkbrook seat. That will pit John (five times loser by that point) against the might of Roger Godsiff, who will barely break into a sweat as he wipes the floor with John. That will be a VERY interesting campaign to watch.

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