A damning report on the UK's election system was published this week, ahead of the local elections. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation report Purity of elections in the UK: Causes for concern described the system as being ‘close to breaking-point' and vulnerable to large-scale fraud. It revealed there had been at least 42 convictions for electoral fraud in the UK in the period 2000-2007, with greater use of postal voting making UK elections far more vulnerable to fraud. The report called for a requirement for every voter to produce photographic ID and a more robust system for monitoring postal and proxy votes. ‘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,' said report author, Stuart Wilks-Heeg. The Electoral Commission said it had repeatedly called for the electoral process in Britain to be made more secure. ‘Postal voting has been made safer with the introduction of new security checks from 2007,' said a spokesman. ‘But, we continue to urge the Government to replace the current system of household registration with individual voter registration.
