Delay possible for regional votes

All-postal voting is planned for the regional referendums

Referendums on regional assemblies may be delayed if the Electoral Commission gives a negative verdict on all-postal voting trials at the recent elections.

People in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humberside are due to vote on getting their own assemblies.

All-postal voting is planned after the trials in the local and European polls.

The Tories oppose post-only voting, and minister Chris Leslie told MPs he might "amend" the approach if the commission ruled post voting might be "unsafe".

'Confidence at stake'

The news came as the Conservatives said the all-postal voting system trialled in four regions this month was wide open to fraud and corruption.

Shadow constitutional affairs minister Alan Duncan said that far from being a long-term solution to falling turnout, the system had bred more concern among voters.

The "marginal" increases in turnout had been "more than offset by the disadvantages of malpractice and disaffection", he argued.

The electoral practices of the 18th and early 19th centuries risk becoming the hallmark of the 21st Alan Duncan Tory shadow minister

Mr Duncan said abuses of all-postal voting were almost impossible to detect or prove.

The Tory spokesman added: "The government's reckless fiddling with the electoral system has raised widespread public concern about the integrity of Britain's electoral system.

"The electoral practices of the 18th and early 19th centuries, such as intimidation and fraud, risk becoming the hallmark of the 21st."

Delay 'unlikely'

The Electoral Commission is currently reviewing the all-postal voting trials and aims to publish its report in mid-September.

Constitutional Affairs Mr Leslie said the rules for the autumn regional referendums would have to be laid before Parliament in July so there was enough preparation time.

But he said: "If the commission's September evaluation concludes that it is somehow unsafe to proceed as planned then we would be prepared to recommend to Parliament amending the approach."

The minister accepted that any changes would "almost certainly" delay the referendum date.

He said a delay was an "unlikely eventuality" but the government wanted to show it was taking the commission's report seriously.

'Fraud no worse'

Mr Leslie accused the Tories of peddling rumours and getting fraud allegations completely out of perspective.

Instead, MPs should take decisions based on hard evidence, stressing that only three people had been elected over concerns of all-postal vote malpractice.

Mr Leslie said returning officers believed the problem had been no worse than in previous elections.

And he pointed to the 100% boost in turnout in the all-postal vote regions from the 1999 European elections- compared to the 50% increase in the non-pilot areas.

Polls probe?

But Liberal Democrat frontbencher Paul Tyler said the increased turnout was not just down to the voting trials.

The Electoral Commission and police should be left to examine fraud complaints, he said.

"To attempt to pre-judge them seems outrageous. Let's wait and see the facts," said Mr Tyler.

The all-postal votes meant people cast their ballots throughout the election campaign.

Mr Tyler also suggested the Tory vote had "haemorrhaged" when too much coverage was given to the UK Independence Party's rise in the polls.

"The Electoral Commission should be asked to examine the reliability and influence of reported opinion polls and their potential to undermine the integrity of the electoral process," he added.