4 April 2005

Britons were already concerned about the security and integrity of the electoral postal voting system even before the Birmingham voting rigging scandal came to trial, according to a survey from fraud specialists Detica.

The research, undertaken by Mori for Detica just weeks before the trial began, showed that over half the population (54%) felt postal voting made it easier for election fraud to be committed. Even more alarmingly, two in five of British adults said they were concerned or very concerned about election fraud in general.

In his summing up of the case the trial judge, Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey QC, upheld allegations of postal fraud and said evidence of "massive, systematic and organised fraud" in the campaign had made "a mockery" of the 2004 local election in Birmingham.

David Porter, Head of Security and Risk at Detica, said the Detica survey results showed that public thinking was very much in line with that of the Birmingham judge.

"Our findings show that people living in Britain may well be losing faith in the integrity of British elections and, considering the democratic society in which we live, the level of concern we discovered was certainly a surprise," Porter said. "While there is there is no evidence to suggest that election fraud has influenced the outcome of a UK general election, the public is obviously worried and clearly their perception mirrors that of the Birmingham judge."

"This perception extends beyond postal voting and is not helped by the fact that, surprisingly, no formal identification document is actually required of voters when they present themselves at polling stations. This is quite remarkable when you consider that around three forms of identification are normally required just to register to rent a video at your local video store," added Porter.

"What we are seeing here is another example of identity fraud, but in this case fraudsters are now hijacking your voting account. The Birmingham case shows that this new form of election fraud has the capability to materially affect an election result."

The Detica survey also asked British adults as to their views on the potential new "hi-tech" voting methods currently being considered by the Government. The results showed that Britons believe voting methods such as texting on mobile phones, sending an e-mail, pressing the red button on a TV remote control or going online to a dedicated website, would make it easier to commit election fraud.

Porter concluded: "74% believe that voting by text on a mobile phone would make it easier to commit electoral fraud while 66% have the same fear when it comes to voting via email. Yet again it shows that new technology, whilst heavily adopted by the general public, is still not trusted when it comes to security. The public need to be convinced of the safety of the existing 'basic' voting methods before new methods are even considered."

"At the very least postal voting should be subject to increased levels of scrutiny to deter would-be fraudsters. In the longer term we should be looking at stronger methods of verifying voter identity and analysing voting patterns for evidence of potential fraud."

Nick Miles Text 100 Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)208 846 0700 email: