Andy Anderson, the Democratic Socialist Federation Education officer and an agent for Labour for Independence, wrote an extensive report on “how the postal ballot was rigged” during the Scottish referendum. He said that: “We maintain that there must be an investigation into our claim of ballot rigging, because if we are right it undermines our democratic institutions, and if we are wrong and this can be demonstrated clearly, then it strengthens them. So the outcome of such an investigation is beneficial whatever the findings are.” But, here we are again, a full three years later, still unable to have any confidence in the integrity of our electoral system; when will this end?
Here is the data to judge for yourself whether the 2019 General Election result was valid or potentially a rigged vote: I believe the results totally defy logic and must at least be investigated.
House of Commons Data for General Election 2019: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8749 Full Data Breakdown
This paper will be updated with further analysis in 2020. Further election articles are available on the
Commons Library website. This includes a dashboard showing election results by constituency.
Download the full report General Election 2019: results and analysis ( PDF, 17.62 MB)
Supporting documents HoC-GE2019-results-by-candidate (Excel Spreadsheet, 512.18 KB)
HoC-GE2019-by-constituency (Excel Spreadsheet, 125.79 KB)
Despite the cold and rain of winter, given the copious photographic evidence of unusually long lines of people waiting to cast their vote, perhaps the most incomprehensible piece of information presented was this:
“Turnout was 67.3%, down from 68.8% in 2017. The total registered electorate was 47.6 million, up from 46.8 million in 2017”. If the claimed low turnout in your area does not anyway near match your personal experience on the day or the photos you might have taken while waiting in line, please let us know as this is just one of many anomalies that must be taken seriously. There was a massive voter registration drive before both the 2017 election and prior to this latest election, so why were many eager to register, but disinclined to vote? This makes no sense.
For comparison of relevant data results for the 2017 General Election:
https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7979
Download the full report General Election 2017: full results and analysis ( PDF, 15.19 MB)
Supporting documents Data file: detailed results by constituency (Excel Spreadsheet, 112.75 KB)
Data file: detailed results by candidate (Excel Spreadsheet, 519.81 KB)
The private companies behind British elections are Civica, Democracy Counts and Idox, Idox having bought competitor Halarose for £5 million in 2017. All three major companies provide “electoral solutions” to local authorities, including registration and election management solution software. Idox count over 90% of UK local authorities as customers, providing a software database of all requested postal votes, training and providing staff to deal with the system. The company boasts control of the majority of elections across the UK and was given contracts across Scotland for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
According to Idox: “The Postal Vote Checking software.. [enables] Returning Officers to compare 100% of signatures and dates of birth on returned Postal Vote Statements with stored application forms… the software allows users to run their opening sessions at remote locations, even outside the council’s network infrastructure for ultimate flexibility” Idox
Given the fact that:
Idox is a subsidiary of an Oil & Gas Company unlikely to support a progressive “Green” agenda.
A clear conflict of interest due to the long-term involvement of Tory MP Peter Lilley as director.
The percentage of Postal Votes has doubled to 38% since the 2017 election.
This statement made by Idox would open up the potential for a massive breach of public trust in the integrity of our democracy. A lot of very important information us divulged on this website:
https://redrevolution.co.uk/2019/12/24/postal-votes-the-danger-of-industrial-scale-electoral-fraud/
Like the staggering number of postal votes (38%) at the general election. There were equally alarming figures coming from the independence referendum, with postal vote turnouts of nearly 90% in Edinburgh and even over 96% in some areas. For a comparison, Electoral Commission data from the 2017 general election showed that 85.1% of postal electors used their postal vote.
In his extensive report on “how the postal ballot was rigged” during the Scottish referendum, Andy Anderson revealed: These allegations, the so-called “McTernan Plan”, suggest that once the ballots were initially opened the identification data would have been inputted into computer systems. By cross-referencing this data with held data on who had applied for a postal vote, a list of those who had not returned their ballots could be created, leading to the possibility of producing thousands of fake “genuine” votes. The theory would lend credence to reports that some voters were told they had “already voted” when arriving to cast their ballot.
If fake or substitute votes were introduced this would, by sheer volume of demand, require an automated process. The automation would help reduce those in the know to a minimum to eliminate the chance of exposure. I was told by the Electoral Commission that all of the ballot papers, as well as the “A” envelopes they were sealed in by the voter, are all retained for a year. The evidence is there for inspection, so that raises a number of questions:
1. Are ballot papers and the “A” envelopes stored by the Councils concerned or entrusted to Idox?
2. Under what circumstances can ballot papers and their envelopes be examined?
3. Who has the authority to order such an inspection?
4. Can this evidence be removed for forensic testing?
It is important to identify which Councils are using the Idox vote management system, the total volume of postal voting packs they sent out and how many were validated for inclusion in the final count. From the General Election results data it should be possible to narrow down the number of constituencies where, due to inconsistencies and unexplained anomalies, the possibility of vote rigging is alleged to have taken place.
Those who are clamouring for IndiRef2 be warned, I would be the last to say you should be denied the right to self-determination. However, if it was rigged last time and nothing was done about it then what do you hope to accomplish by handing the Tories another opportunity to fabricate Scottish support for remaining in the union? The most urgent priority is to uncover the truth and make sure that all of our elections reflect the genuine votes of the people in future.
If you a wondering why I might be devoting my time to this post on Christmas Day, it’s because I am not celebrating: we have nothing but misery to look forward to under the potentially permanent Tory dictatorship that lies ahead. Three years on from the Scottish independence referendum many did not trust, followed by the Brexit fiasco and other dubious electoral results, complacency rules and nothing has changed. There is no time to procrastinate because this might be the very last chance to rescue our democracy.