Postal vote fraud 'could throw local election results into chaos', warns Rowntree Reform Trust

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The study, by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, claims measures to improve choice for voters are damaging the integrity of the electoral process.

Ahead of local elections on Thursday, the Trust is calling for radical reforms to bring the voting system up to date.

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It says all voters should produce photographic ID, and recommends "robust" systems for monitoring postal and proxy votes as well as restrictions on parties' campaign spending at constituency level.

It says elections fall short of international standards and claims the Government has failed to

improve public confidence in the process.

There have been 42 electoral fraud convictions since 2001, partly because "previously robust" administration systems have reached "breaking point".

And party spending can have "a powerful impact on the outcome of general elections, particularly where targeted at marginal constituencies over sustained periods of time," the report warns.

Its author Stuart Wilks-Heeg said: "It's very concerning that ministers tend to focus on 'quick fixes' to solve declining turnout and ignore genuine concerns about how easy it can be to cheat the system."