Measures to stop postal voting fraud have come into force, with tougher checks and new offences for false applications.

This week Huntingdonshire District Council will be writing to all local people who are currently registered to vote by post or by proxy, or have requested to vote on the recently completed electoral registration forms asking for a copy of their signature and date of birth. This information will be stored by the council and may be compared against the signature and date of birth that will be required for completion on a security statement supplied with future postal votes.

The council is urging all those electors who receive a form asking for a signature and date of birth to return it as soon as possible to ensure that they can vote in their preferred way for local elections scheduled to take place on 3rd May 2007.

It is hoped that these new measures will improve security and introduce deterrents against fraud so that electors have confidence that their vote will be cast and counted fairly.  They have been introduced under the Electoral Administration Act, passed last year due to concerns about the security of postal voting. The new regulations have created offences for supplying wrongful information and falsely applying for a postal or proxy vote.