UK voting review blames Pak, Bangladeshi communities for fraud

Evidence was presented of pressure being put on vulnerable members of some ethnic minority communities, especially of Pakistani and Bangladeshi background, to vote according to the will of the elders, the report said.

London: A UK government review of the country's voting system released today has found evidence of fraud among Britain's Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities.

In a report presented to Prime Minister Theresa May, former UK communities minister Eric Pickles has called for reforms to the voting system including piloting some form of identification at polling stations and warned that political correctness was resulting in fraud going unchecked in these South Asian communities.

"Evidence was presented of pressure being put on vulnerable members of some ethnic minority communities, particularly women and young people, to vote according to the will of the elders, especially in communities of Pakistani and Bangladeshi background," the report says.

"There were concerns that influence and intimidation within households may not be reported, and that state institutions had turned a blind eye to such behaviour because of 'politically correct' over-sensitivities about ethnicity and religion," it adds.

The review was commissioned after last year's court case over postal voting fraud, which resulted in the disqualification of Lutfur Rahman as Tower Hamlet borough's elected mayor in east London.

"Last year's court ruling in Tower Hamlets was a wake-up call that state bodies need to do far more to stamp out corruption and restore public confidence. It was local residents who lost out from the crooked politicians who bullied them and wasted their money. The law must be applied equally and fairly to everyone," said Pickles as he launched his findings and 50 recommendations.

"The worrying and covert spread of electoral fraud and state of denial by some bodies threatens our nation's proud heritage as the 'mother of Parliaments'. It is time to take action to take on the electoral crooks and defend Britain?s free and fair elections," he said.

His review was set to examine what steps are necessary to stop voter registration fraud and error, postal voting fraud, impersonation, intimidation, bribery, treating and undue influence and recommending to government what practical changes are needed to legislation, guidance and practice.

"This report will be an important contribution to our fight against all types of fraud in the UK. We will look closely at the recommendations," said Chris Skidmore, UK minister for the Constitution.