The SKWAWKBOX has recently covered concerns over the propriety of the Copeland by-election and tactics of threat and impersonation being used by local Tory councillors and activists in Pendle, not too far south.
Now, at the other end of the country the Tories have also been caught breaching another key electoral rule – and one that concerns postal votes, which are also at the centre of concerns in Copeland.
Surprisingly – to this author at least – electoral rules do allow political parties to invite voters to send postal ballot application forms (not actual completed ballot papers) to party offices rather than to the local authority conducting the election. This would appear to be fraught with the risk of facilitating potential fraudulent applications, but it is currently permitted.
However, political parties are not allowed to encourage voters to do so. In fact, the Postal Vote Code of Conduct
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michaelsnaith 