Is it really a secret ballot?

[(((Fergus)))]

Last time I voted, my voting slip had a serial number on it that matched up with a counterfoil that had my name and address on it. Is this still the case today?

[Mon Dieu4]

Last time I voted, my voting slip had a serial number on it that matched up with a counterfoil that had my name and address on it. Is this still the case today?

Yep, same thing happened to me this morning & got me thinking as well, they say it's to stop fraudulant voting & anything dodgy going on.

Also just found this

Your electoral number
Staff in the polling station write down your electoral number before you can vote.

The law requires every ballot paper to have a unique serial number.

The law also requires that a record is kept of the serial number of the ballot paper that is issued to every elector. That is why the staff in the polling station record the serial number of the ballot paper against the electoral number.

At the close of the poll, the documents which list the serial numbers of the ballot papers and the list of to whom they have been issued are sealed in special packets and cannot be opened unless a court order to do so is obtained.

The reason this is done is to enable checks to be made should a legal challenge be made to the result of the election. It is possible in UK law for the result of an election to be challenged through what is known as an election petition. It is possible for the eligibility of a single, or number of , electors' right to vote to be challenged in the courts after an election. If the challenge is successful the court can order that the ballot papers of the electors who were not eligible to vote be retrieved and their votes discounted and the result of the election changed to reflect the removal of these votes from the total.

This is a very unusual occurrence and there are legal processes in place to protect the identity of electors and how they have voted from being discovered except in circumstances when a court orders that it should be done. There is only a very short period in which a challenge can be made - 21 days from the date of the election and if no challenge is made in that period all documents are subsequently destroyed

[Woody1985]

You'd hope that this number will work in the same way that your pin and passwords are sent to you from banks i.e. randomly generated and an extremely limited database would contain each of the references.

How easy would it be to rig an election where you send out x million of identicle bits of paper.

[Dinkydoo]

You'd hope that this number will work in the same way that your pin and passwords are sent to you from banks i.e. randomly generated and an extremely limited database would contain each of the references.

How easy would it be to rig an election where you send out x million of identicle bits of paper.


The scarey thing is that it wouldn't be that difficult (providing you knew what you were doing).

Hack into the databse, replicate a few serial numbers.....'bobs yer uncle'

My wisdom doesn't reach as far as this but I'm sure there are many people out there with the tools and knowledge to easily rig an election.

[khib70]

You'd hope that this number will work in the same way that your pin and passwords are sent to you from banks i.e. randomly generated and an extremely limited database would contain each of the references.

How easy would it be to rig an election where you send out x million of identicle bits of paper.
Ask Mr Mugabe, or the President of Iran:greengrin

[heretoday]

My old Constitutional Law book says the registration numbers system is there to prevent multiple voting by people who are in more than one constituency.

[Phil D. Rolls]

No it's not, and Mandelson knows where you all live. :wink:

[AFKA5814_Hibs]

My recollection was that whilst your card had a number on it, when you showed it to the person at the pollen station, they just scored your name off, they didn't assign it to a particular number and just gave you the next strip, so don't see how both your card and strip can be paired together. :confused:

[Phil D. Rolls]

My recollection was that whilst your card had a number on it, when you showed it to the person at the pollen station, they just scored your name off, they didn't assign it to a particular number and just gave you the next strip, so don't see how both your card and strip can be paired together. :confused:

I think you'd have every right to get a wee bit sniffy about that!:greengrin

[J-C]

When I voted then guy wrote the number next to my name and checked it with his list of names.

[--------]

My old Constitutional Law book says the registration numbers system is there to prevent multiple voting by people who are in more than one constituency.


When I voted then guy wrote the number next to my name and checked it with his list of names.


So now he can figure out how you voted. :devil:

[(((Fergus)))]

My recollection was that whilst your card had a number on it, when you showed it to the person at the pollen station, they just scored your name off, they didn't assign it to a particular number and just gave you the next strip, so don't see how both your card and strip can be paired together. :confused:

I spoke with the guy at my polling station and while the serial number on the back of the ballot paper CAN be matched up with your name on the register, the two data sources (ballots and register) are separately sealed and a court order is required in order for them to be compared in the event of suspected electoral fraud.

As things stand this doesn't seem a problem although under a less scrupulous regime this system would obviously have its drawbacks.

[--------]

I spoke with the guy at my polling station and while the serial number on the back of the ballot paper CAN be matched up with your name on the register, the two data sources (ballots and register) are separately sealed and a court order is required in order for them to be compared in the event of suspected electoral fraud.

As things stand this doesn't seem a problem although under a less scrupulous regime this system would obviously have its drawbacks.



"Less scrupulous regime"?

Less scrupulous than this crowd? :shocked:

[Jamesie]

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhaff/768/8060208.htm