ChatterBank4 mins ago
Photo Id For Voting
Did you remember that you have to produce photo ID to vote today?
Boris didn't. He was turned away.
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“There was a case in london where someone was prosecuted for postal vote rigging and no I cant be bothered to trawl through google to find it.
Anecdotably there have been examples of same name postal voting fraud and where groups have been told who to vote for and for mass votes to be collected and delivered on the instruction of others.”
You’re almost certainly thinking of the case of Mohammed Lutfur Rahman, Rosetta. Mr Rahman was elected as Mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2014. However, his election was challenged by four local residents who secured an election petition. They alleged that people had voted who were not entitled to, and promises of housing were given to certain sections of the community in return for their vote. The election was later declared void and he was disqualified from holding public office for five years.
Following a trial lasting 30 days, the election court upheld their allegations and found Mr Rahman guilty. Among the allegations that were proved were those of “treating” (offering bribes to secure votes), “personification” (unlawfully casting a vote or votes), illegal practices and corruption. One of the features of this story is that large numbers of postal votes were “harvested” by Mr Rahman’s people. Here’s an extract from the testimony of one of the witnesses (an investigator) who gave evidence:
"We also visited another address, 37 Cavell Street, E1, a small block of about twelve flats reserved for elderly Bangladeshi people, where I was told that a number of the residents had had their blank ballot papers taken from them against their will by supporters of Lutfur Rahman and Tower Hamlets First. Through the translator, one resident told me that this had indeed occurred. She said: “A woman came and said, we are here from Lutfur Rahman’s party. Many people of your age have voted for him already, so I’m here to take your vote. They came to me and took my signature and then took the blank ballot paper from me. I normally go to the polling station. I told them I was used to doing it myself and didn’t understand why it was different this year. I am a long-term Labour supporter and would never have supported Lutfur Rahman…"
It was also found that large numbers of postal votes were received supposedly from properties that did not exist at all.
The judge was scathing of Mr Rahman in his judgment:
"In short, Mr Rahman was evasive and discursive to a very high degree. Sadly, it must also be said that he was not truthful. In one or two crucial matters he was caught out in what were quite blatant lies."
After remaining active in local politics during his period of disqualification, Mr Rahman (who had been disqualified as a solicitor and had declared himself bankrupt after being ordered to pay £250,000 costs following the election trial) he was elected as Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2022.
