More election scandal at the Council House
April 13, 2005 9:00 AM
1,000 uncounted postal votes have been discovered at Birmingham City Council House in the latest twist in the Labour vote-rigging scandal that has rocked the city. Two members of election staff have been suspended pending a fully investigation.
A tip from a whistleblower led the fraud squad to a locked archive room where the ballots were discovered in an orange crate on a shelf. The votes should have been counted in the city council elections. Failure to count 1,000 missing votes may have resulted in other councillors being wrongly elected because majorities in some wards were as narrow as 31 votes.
Election results can normally be overturned only by a petition that must be submitted to the High Court within 21 days of the count. Richard Mawrey, QC, sitting as election commissioner, has already overthrown the return of six Labour councillors in two wards because of their involvement in corrupt and illegal practices.
Nicola Davies, Liberal Democrat candidate for Birmingham Hodge Hill said "I am amazed at the level of, at best, incompetence in Birmingham City Council's Election Office. Given the closeness of the by-election and what will almost certainly be a close General Election I am calling for an outside election team to be brought in to oversea the General Election."
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