Birmingham City Council respond to Vote Fraud

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Interim Elections Team

The interim elections team which will oversee voting for the forthcoming General Election are:

Nigel Buttler, recently retired Elections Officer from Oxfordshire County Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council, who will lead the Elections Office and work full-time on putting in place technical preparations for the elections.

Nigel will be supported by John Turner, former Returning Officer for Norwich City Council, who will lead on staff training and Stewart Dobson, former Acting Chief Executive at Birmingham City Council, who has also recently retired as Chief Executive at Millennium Point and Thinktank, and who will provide general experience of elections in Birmingham.

Ex-Chief Superintendent Phil Ellis, formerly Head of Professional Standards Unit at West Midlands Police will give advice on maintaining the integrity of the vote and consider any specific allegations of postal vote fraud.

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Preventing and tackling election fraud

Press release - Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police have agreed a joint protocol aimed at preventing and tackling election fraud.

Ref 7430 Contact Carol Austin 0121 303 2555 Issued 13th April 2005-04-22

The protocol was welcomed at a meeting yesterday of party agents who all agreed to support the actions being taken and to follow the recommendations made by the Electoral Commission.

Chief Executive and Returning Officer for Birmingham, Lin Homer, said ‘We want people in Birmingham to exercise their vote confidently and properly. We welcome the support of both the police and all the political parties in ensuring that this election is conducted fairly and in accordance with the rules.’

Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) Stuart Hyde said "I am very pleased with the level of support and co-operation shown by everyone concerned to ensure no fraud takes place. We are working closely with the acting returning officer and are satisfied we have done everything possible to outline how we can assist.

"We have provided and continue to provide support for the acting returning officer and I am grateful to all parties for being open and showing commitment to reducing fraud."

The City Council has undertaken a number of steps in relation to postal voting following the findings of the Elections Commissioner, Richard Mawrey QC, last week. The Council has written to all 53000 existing postal voters asking them if they wish to be removed from this list or wish their vote to go to a new address. All postal vote applications will also be acknowledged. For this election anyone can apply for a postal vote up to Tuesday 26 April and Presiding Officers will record details of postal voters who turn up to vote in person.


The City council will be working closely with the police and any allegations of electoral fraud will be taken seriously and investigated fully. The City Council has advised all political parties not to handle postal votes and is providing independent assistance to the public with completion of documents.

A helpline is also being set up for fraud allegations. The Electoral Commission’s guidelines and the Birmingham guidance have been issued to all political parties.