Labour has been using fake statistics to persuade Britons abroad to appoint activists as their proxy voters as both parties defy election guidance in pursuit of 1.4 million expatriates. Electoral administrators have said that faith in the result may be jeopardised by campaigners getting involved in the process of voting. The Electoral Commission's code of conduct discourages party workers from serving as proxies but the standards are voluntary and the regulator is powerless to halt the practice.
There has been a surge in proxies in swing seats. In marginal Canterbury, applications for proxy votes have risen nearly fourfold to 861, higher than Rosie Duffield's 187 Labour majority. Proxies have risen in Pudsey to 444, exceeding the Conservatives' 333 lead. In Bishop Auckland, which Labour's Helen Goodman holds by a small margin, proxy voting has risen sixfold. She is a remainer who cackled like a
witch on laughing gas when Kate Hoey made a speech about respecting our
17.4 million vote; Her constituency voted 61% for brexit There have been dramatic rises in Durham's six seats held by Labour, in a county that voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union.
The tactics will alarm experts in electoral abuse. Safeguards for proxy voting are weaker than for postal voting, the alternative for absent electors. Labour has been exaggerating the risk of postal votes arriving after the count. Labour International, the party's overseas network. published a flyer distributed in Madrid, Berlin. New York and southern France which stated: "In 2016, a third of postal votes were not counted."
Young Labour International . said: "In the 2016 EU Referendum, a third of the 200,000 votes cast from overseas were too late to be counted." A spokesman for the Electoral Commission, the democratic watchdog, said: ·"We don't recognise these figures and do not believe they are collected by anyone. The regulator is unable to intervene." Official records show that 0.3 per cent of postal votes were too late to be counted in the Brexit poll, 100 times smaller than Labour's claim. There are no formal statistics on how many votes 'Were cast from overseas.
Labour and the Conservatives have been openly offering to provide proxies to cast expatriates' votes. Young Labour International said: "Don't have someone you trust to vote on your behalf? Contact us and we'll sort you out." Conservatives Abroad said on their website: "If you need help finding a local proxy voter complete the form below or email us." .
The Association of Electoral Administrators said that it remained non-partisan but expressed concern about parties and campaigners becoming involved in proxy voting. Peter Stanyon, its chief executive, said: "To maintain probity within the electoral system and to ensure that trust in the system is maintained, political parties should not be involved in any electoral administrative process."
The code of conduct says: "Electors should be encouraged to explore other options for people to act as a proxy including relatives or neighbours." Francis Hoar, the barrister who prosecuted Lutfur Rahman, former mayor of Tower Hamlets for being corruptly elected, told of the risks of mass proxy voting. He said that the law was too weak.
A Tory source said that anyone taking up their offer would be aware of their politics. The Labour organisations did not comment.
