UK Elections Administration Inefficient, Open to Fraud: Policy Exchange Think Tank

© Stefan AtamanElectoral registers, used at general and local elections in the United Kingdom leaving room for fraud: Policy Exchange think tank
Electoral registers, used at general and local elections in the United Kingdom leaving room for fraud: Policy Exchange think tank - Sputnik International
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Electoral registers with the names of the voters, used at general and local elections in the United Kingdom, contain too many mistakes, leaving room for fraud, a report published by UK-based Policy Exchange think tank on Thursday revealed.

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Electoral registers with the names of the voters, used at general and local elections in the United Kingdom, contain too many mistakes, leaving room for fraud, a report published by UK-based Policy Exchange think tank on Thursday revealed.

"The administration of elections in the UK remains dangerously inefficient and seriously open to fraud," the 60-page report titled "Electoral Omission" said.

The author of the paper Michael Pinto-Duschinsky argued that the British Electoral Commission "has been so anxious to push up voter turnout that it has too often sacrificed efficiency and accuracy in the way elections are run."

According to the report, the electronic electoral register contained about 7 million errors during the 2005 election – the number which rose to 15.5 million at the 2014 local elections. The number of such mistakes at the upcoming 2015 election could reach at least 13 million.

"The register included over 6.5million names of persons who were no longer resident at the registered address, had died or has been mistakenly or fraudulently included," the report cited the data from the Electoral Commission.

In addition, some 8.5 million voters, making up 18 percent of all those eligible to participate in elections, have not been included in the electoral roll for their current address.

Taking into consideration 37 prison sentences for electoral crimes since 2001, the author of the report recommends the UK government to establish a special unit to perform election administration responsibilities in order to "ensure the Electoral Commission is doing its job," and to create a single cloud-based database available for all local authorities.

The next UK General Election will take place in spring 2015 before the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom is convened. The latest election took place in 2010, with the Conservative Party, headed by the incumbent prime minister David Cameron, winning the majority of seats.

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