SHOULD POSTAL VOTING BE SCRAPPED?

What are your opinions on postal voting?

For what it is worth I think the above banner says it all. You will see from THIS Al Beeb report that the Labour party have had their knuckles rapped (but nothing actually done) over the handling of last years by election in Glasgow. Not only did it take over 6 months for them to actually hold it, they went round collecting postal vote application forms, which had been signed by the voter upto a month before, but only handed in at the last minute by the labour people who had collected them. I am presuming this was to make it a more difficult job for the council to verify them quickly enough. So to uncover fraud would be less likely as the council would have just enought time to get the ballot papers out to the electorate.

Why can't people just go to the polling station?

I think it should be compulsory to vote, even if you just spoil your paper, and the only people who should be eligible for postal ballot applications is sick, elederly and infirm. Or those at work/holiday away and have proof that they will not be at home at the time of the election. Yes it will take more organizing, but what is the price of democracy?

Look at the Fazakerley ward, postal voting pattern

2008 (Local Elections) - No of Postal Votes cast 762 - Total No of Postal Voters 1085
2009 (Euro Elections) - No of Postal Votes cast 675 - Total No of Postal Voters 1215
2010 (By-Election) - No of Postal Votes cast 732 - Total No of Postal Voters 1321

So 27% of the voters at the by election last week voted by post. Refers readers back to the top banner.

A 25% rise in postal voting applications, how does this compare with other areas of the country ?

Three rivers by election 24th September 2009.

903 people voted in that by election, and after seeing how many people used postal ballots this is the reply I got from the returning officer.

To answer your questions;
There was one spoilt vote at the Polling Stations
We received 109 postal votes ;
98 ballot papers were included included in the count
11 rejected for the following reasons -
No Postal vote Statement 2
Spoilt 1
No match of signature or Date of Birth 8

So around 11% used postal voting in Three Rivers yet 27% of the people need to use it in Liverpool. Why the differential?

In Halewood South last november around 1400 people voted of which over 760 postal ballot papers had been sent out, a rise of 10% from the last by election held in this ward. Never did get a reply from the election officer to how many returned those ballot papers.

Do you see a pattern emerging, it looks like Labour want any election to be in the bag, the post bag that is. Bring back fair elections VOTE BNP

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