Police launch 50 inquiries into electoral fraud: report

Police forces have launched 50 criminal inquiries nationwide into potential electoral fraud, the Daily Mail has reported.

The Metropolitan Police is said to be examining 28 claims of postal vote abuse. Four separate investigations are being conducted in Tower Hamlets, the Daily Mail claimed.

Other areas affected include Yorkshire – where five police investigations are under way in Bradford and Calderdale and two arrests have been made – and Derby.

Postal votes accounted for 15% of all votes cast in 2005, a figure the Electoral Commission expects to rise in this election.

There have been 150,000 applications in the last month, the Daily Mail said, with a number of key marginals seeing significant rises.

Martin Bell, the former MP, warned that there is a possibility that the election result could be decided by electoral fraud.

He told the Daily Mail: “We are facing a situation where we can no longer trust the integrity of our electoral system. It was a huge mistake to extend the postal vote. It opened up our system to all kinds of frauds.”