Posted here as an open letter is a copy of an email I sent to the electoral registration office less than an hour ago. I will do what I've said I'll do. And I do have a fourth, as yet unrevealed, question.
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Sirs
Between one and two weeks after the May 1st elections, I will be entering a request for information, to the FoI officer, under the Freedom of Information Act. I will be requesting the following information:
1. How many ADDRESSES within the bounds of W.M.B.C. were registered for one postal vote (names being irrelevant)?
How many addresses were registered for two postal votes?
How many addresses were registered for three postal votes?
Etc.up to ten or more postal votes for the same address.
2. How many NAMES within the bounds of W.M.B.C.were registered for two postal votes, at different addresses?
How many names were registered for three postal votes at different addresses?
Etc. up to ten or more postal votes for the same name.
3. What is the total for the number of registered electors within the boundaries of W.M.B.C., and what was the total number of registered postal votes?
I understand that addresses such as old people's homes, hospitals etc. will have multiple requests from one address. These I will check for status and, where appropriate, exclude from investigation. For other addresses I will be making a personal judgement on how many repeats are "reasonable".
I also understand that in a population of more than 300,000 people, some names will be repeated, therefore I will be making a personal judgement on how many repeats for one name are "reasonable".
Any information regarding multiple postal votes at one address not an old people's home or hospital, or multiple same-names at different addresses, that seems suspicious to me, I will be taking to the police for further investigation.
I will not be requesting the actual addresses or names - only numbers; so issues of confidentiality will not enter into things as far as this request will be concerned. Such things will only enter into things if - if - the police become involved.
The information requested will be easy to collate, and virtually cost-free. I think it safe to assume that such information as all requests granted for postal votes are kept on an electronic database. I further assume that this will be Microsoft Office Access, or similar. All you need to do is highlight the "Address" column on the database and click "Sort Ascending" (or "Sort Descending" - the effects will be the same ... just in the opposite direction). Then read through the addresses and count the number of times the same address appears consecutively, as it will automatically do.
For the names, just repeat this procedure; highlight the "Names" column, click "Sort Ascending" or "Sort Descending", then read through the names and count the number of times the same name comes up consecutively, as it will automatically do.
This way you will very easily be able to find how many times each address has appeared and how many times each name has appeared.
I am educated and qualified in the office-use of computers to RSA IBT2 level. I am fully aware of what can be done with word processors, spreadsheets and databases.
I will leave the request for information for one-two weeks after the election because I fully understand that for you the work involved in an election is not over with the election itself. I will give you time to get your extra work done without distractions from the likes of me.
I am forwarding this mail to you to give you advance warning that the requests will be made, and for you to prepare for them, if necessary. I will also be posting this mail as an open letter on the Wigan BNP weblog.
Our politicians have created a postal voting system that is wide open to electoral fraud, as has been seen from numerous cases around the country. The politicians themselves don't appear to be motivated to do anything about it, so it is left to ordinary members of the public such as me, who ARE motivated to do something about it, to do it on their behalf. I apologise if this causes you extra work, but please, don't blame me: blame the politicians.
I have no personal doubts about the integrity of the electoral registration office itself. It has been by a country mile the most helpful, friendly and informative department of any governmental - local and national - department I have ever encountered in my 55 years of life.
Sincerely
Henry Morgan
PS There will also be a fourth request for information, in addition to the three detailed above. However, I do not yet wish to make known what that request will be. The information will be easier to gather than that described above, and possibly far more indicative of possible electoral fraud and how deeply into our local political system it reaches. Assuming it is there at all, of course, which is by no means certain here in Wigan. There is no record at all of what this fourth request will be on my computer, or written down anywhere. So if any corrupt politician or political activist, or council officer sends heavies around to confiscate my computer and root through it, along with rooting through all my papers, in order to obtain advance warning, then that will be a waste of time and effort, and indeed,counter-productive ... because I am well plugged into the Web and have contacts nation-and-world-wide.
