Evening Standard reports Tower Hamlets forced to remove names from Electoral Roll including one at address of Mayor Lutfur Rahman

Posted on | Friday 23 March 2012 | No Comments

In today's Evening Standard (Friday 23 March 2012) a half page spread by Simon Freeman reports the findings of the Electoral Commission into claims of voting fraud in Tower Hamlets.

The review by Adrian Green, Regional Manager of the Electoral Register for London, found the council had a 'very thorough approach to trying to ensure the integrity and completeness and accuracy of the register'. And Aman Dalvi, the borough's Acting CEO and Returning Officer is reported as saying the Commission's report was an endorsement of the borough's practices and would help to reassure residents and help put a stop to the unfounded allegations which could have undermined confidence in the democratic process within the Borough..

This is all rather confusing when we then read that the council were today forced to remove 127 names from the electoral roll following the Commission's review. Like anyone else reading this article, I'm reading it as a statement of fact not rumour. Similarly with the paper's revelation, 'Tower Hamlets had to remove one mystery resident listed at the home address of its mayor, Lutfur Rahman''. It goes on to state that in the council's own follow-up probe, 3 of 5 properties identified by the Evening Standard as being suspect had the number of registered voters cut. As I say, these are no longer accusations by the newspaper, they are being reported as fact and accordingly have serious consequences, particularly for Lutfur Rahman who had on 3 March 2012 declared in both the  'itspolitical' and 'Huffington Post' web sites:-

'I would simply remind politicians who have hopped upon this particular bandwagon, that following complaints of voter fraud in the 2010 General Election, investigating police failed to find a single case in our borough. Council officers vigorously check any suspicious registrations and take people off the electoral register where deemed necessary'. 

So, I'm reading the, 'very thorough approach ...'  has revealed serious failings. A point Aman Dalvi prefers to hide under the guise of process. 

As Cllr Golds has stressed, its time the Police thoroughly investigate how these names were registered, and take decisive action in recommending prosecution where appropriate. 



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