VOTING CHAOS:THE HUMAN rights campaign group Liberty is considering mounting a legal action on behalf of hundreds of British people who were denied their vote on Thursday night, after they were stuck in queues and postal ballots ran out.
Shami Chakrabarti, the group’s director, appealed to people to come forward in what could amount to a group action on behalf of disenfranchised voters. “Shameful scenes of hundreds of voters turned away from polling stations are unworthy of a mature democracy like ours,” she said.
“Liberty will use all legal and campaigning means to ensure that this disgrace is never repeated. This is particularly pressing, given the possibility of further elections in the medium term.” Ms Chakrabarti said the challenge would be based on alleged breaches of human rights, rather than electoral law.
The intervention came amid recriminations over what went wrong on election night. There were angry scenes at polling stations across the country after they were inundated with a high number of last-minute voters. Those responsible for overseeing the voting system, who have been blamed, turned fire on parliament yesterday, accusing politicians of ignoring their pleas for reform.
The Electoral Commission was forced to defend its record, insisting it had not been given powers to direct local electoral systems or to fully regulate the system, despite making urgent warnings to parliament that the Victorian system was “at breaking point”, its chairwoman Jenny Watson said.
David Monks, leader of Britain’s returning officers, said: “This is an immensely Victorian system that’s way past its sell-by date, and here we are flogging it in the 21st century. It’s a system that’s not suitable for our lifestyle in the 21st century. We need to look afresh at this and start a new system.
“In some of the close-result constituencies, I think there’s a possibility where they [losing candidates] can say their supporters were turned away. They could build a case to mount an election petition to try and overturn the result.”
In the city of Chester, more than 600 people were unable to vote because the electoral list had not been updated, and Labour won on a majority of 549. Lawyers claimed that people who were unable to vote may be able to claim compensation and challenge outcomes in marginal constituencies.
Dr Bob Watt, an election law expert at the University of Essex, said: “It is beyond doubt that if a larger number of people than the margin were prevented from voting, and this could be shown to be the fault of the election officials, that any petition would succeed.”
The law surrounding voter rights is based on centuries-old case law and the Representation of the People Act 1983, which states that a presiding officer has an absolute legal duty to close the poll at 10pm, and those queuing to vote after this time who had not been issued with ballot papers should not be allowed to vote. But the Human Rights Act places an obligation on states to hold “free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions that will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”.
QC Geoffrey Robertson said: "Under the European convention you have a right to vote . . [people who were turned away] have a right to sue." There were chaotic scenes at some stations after frustrated voters queued in vain to cast their ballots before the 10pm deadline. – ( Guardianservice)