No need to fear voting by mail, says UK group

A group set up to ensure the British elections are run smoothly has assured expatriates their votes will not be lost.

This commitment comes despite fears of corruption sweeping the United Kingdom.

Thousands of Britons living here are expected to take part in next month's poll, many of them via the mail. A judge in England, however, recently said postal voting was "wide open to fraud" and opposition politicians have also raised concerns about the process.

A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission told Gulf News yesterday that reforms were needed but said the system's flaws should not dissuade expatriates from voting.

"We don't see there is any evidence of widespread fraud. Millions of people have voted by post in the past with no problems," Gemma Crosland said.

"On balance, we feel that the current arrangements are not significantly flawed or broken whereby we would say 'Don't use a postal vote'. So we're encouraging people in the UAE to use their postal vote and the vast majority will do that securely."

The electoral commission is an independent body set up by a parliament act in 2000 to regulate the funding of political parties and educate voters about the polling process.

About 100,000 Britons live in the UAE and many will take part in the ballot. They will do this either by proxy or via the mail.

A judge found there had been widespread fraud during a local election in Birmingham and claimed the whole postal voting system is open to exploitation.