Anti-electoral fraud campaign urged

There was a huge turnout for the 1998 poll

Northern Ireland's out-going chief electoral officer has called for action to counter election fraud.

Pat Bradley said it was time for political parties and Secretary of State Peter Mandelson to come together in a bid to eliminate the problem.

He made the call before presenting his last annual report as he is about to retire from his post after 20 years as the province's chief electoral officer.

People have been convicted of multiple voting during Northern Ireland elections and there has also been concern about the misuse of proxy votes.

"It is time we got the parties with the secretary of state and others to come forward with a way forward."

Pat Bradley: Monitored elections in South Africa

He said it was important the plan should be seen to be "correct in every respect".

While he conceded that there had been instances of electoral fraud, he said they had not influenced the result of elections.

"People sometimes use this as an excuse for poor performance," he said.

Mr Bradley presided over many of Northern Ireland's most historic polls, including the referendum in which 71% of the electorate voted for the Good Friday Agreement in May 1998.

He was also in charge for the first assembly election a month later.

His work in the province has been recognised abroad as he has served an election observer throughout the world.

He advised on the first post-Apartheid poll in South Africa which saw the election of long-time political prisoner Nelson Mandela as president.

As an observer in Malawi, he had to walk 13 miles through the bush to his office after the authorities withdrew his four wheel drive vehicle.

He has also been an observer in Kosovo, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia and East Timor.