UK voting system 'open to fraud'

The report, by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, claims that measures to improve choice for voters are actually hitting the integrity of the electoral process.

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

Its report: Purity of Elections in the UK: Causes for Concern calls for all voters to produce photographic ID, "robust" systems for monitoring postal and proxy votes and restrictions on campaign spending by parties at constituency level.

It says that elections in the UK fall short of international standards and claims the Government has failed to improve public confidence in elections.

There have been at least 42 convictions for electoral fraud in the UK in the last seven years, and there is a "genuine risk" of electoral integrity being threatened.

This is partly because "previously robust" administration systems have now reached "breaking point".

It claims the benefits of postal and electronic voting have been "exaggerated" - particularly in relation to claims about increased turnout and social inclusion.

In terms of funding, there is "substantial evidence to suggest that money can have a powerful impact on the outcome of general elections, particularly where targeted at marginal constituencies over sustained periods of time."

Report 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. The evidence continues to mount up and shows how we are desperately in need of an electoral system that robustly befits the 21st century, without belying our 19th century democratic roots."