MSE News: Voting today? You don't need a poll card

Pincher

unholyangel wrote: »

Is it? I thought it was only illegal within 250m of the polling station.

As it happens, I am within 250m of the polling station, a school, not that it's what I thought the rules were.


http://www.answers.com/Q/Can_you_canvass_on_election_day


Question. Can you canvass on election day?

Answer: Yes. On election day, parties and their candidates carry out Get the Vote Out (GTVO) operations, on which they send reminders and visit pledged voters to remind them to go to the polls, sometimes persuading last-minute swing voters on the way. By polling day however, political parties will generally assume everyone has made up their mind, and concentrate chiefly on getting their voters to polling stations rather than winning over new ones.








Which is what they were doing, except I voted by post nearly two weeks ago, and told them repeatedly over the last two weeks. Nobody was taking any notice of what I tell them, which is rather symbolic of how it actually works in government.

unholyangel

Pincher wrote: »

As it happens, I am within 250m of the polling station, a school, not that it's what I thought the rules were.


http://www.answers.com/Q/Can_you_canvass_on_election_day


Question. Can you canvass on election day?

Answer: Yes. On election day, parties and their candidates carry out Get the Vote Out (GTVO) operations, on which they send reminders and visit pledged voters to remind them to go to the polls, sometimes persuading last-minute swing voters on the way. By polling day however, political parties will generally assume everyone has made up their mind, and concentrate chiefly on getting their voters to polling stations rather than winning over new ones.








Which is what they were doing, except I voted by post nearly two weeks ago, and told them repeatedly over the last two weeks. Nobody was taking any notice of what I tell them, which is rather symbolic of how it actually works in government.

Ah, put in a complaint then?

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmbills/027/07027.i-i.html

1

Offence of campaigning within a prescribed area

(1)

It shall be an offence to engage in campaigning activity within a prescribed

area around a polling station on the day of a relevant election at any time

during the period in which the polling station is open.

(2)

In this Act, “campaigning activity” means—

5

(a)

the promotion or distribution of any literature associated with election

candidates, political parties or associated organisations;

(b)

the use of audio equipment, whether stationary or mobile, for the

propagation of messages relating to an election; or

(c)

oral communication for the purpose of eliciting voting intentions or

10

influencing the casting of a vote.

(3)

The “prescribed area” referred to in subsection (1) shall be an area represented

by a circle with a radius of 250 metres from the main entrance of a polling

station.

Penalty is a fine up to £5000 I believe.

ask66

"...it is advisable, if possible, to go in with ID and/or proof of address."

In England, this advice is nonsense. Under the current law, no member of staff in a polling station is permitted to ask for ANY form of identification from a prospective voter.

A worrying fact is that anyone who goes into a polling station and claims to be a particular elector registered at that polling station must be issued with a ballot paper which will then be allowed to go into the ballot box, providing no-one else has already claimed to be that elector. If they are telling lies, that is a serious offence, but unless the polling station staff are aware that an offence has been committed, it is likely that the offender will get away with it and have his/her vote counted, even if the "real" elector turns up later.

I have no idea about the law applying outside England.

jamesd

ask66 wrote: »

it is likely that the offender will get away with it and have his/her vote counted, even if the "real" elector turns up later.

Each ballot paper has a number. That number is written next to the voter's name on the electoral roll before the paper is handed to them. If two people claim to be the same voter, one of them will be able to prove identity and have only their vote counted.

This is the same capability that makes it possible to determine who voted for each candidate.

ask66

jamesd wrote: »

If two people claim to be the same voter, one of them will be able to prove identity and have only their vote counted.

In theory, yes, of course you are correct. In practice, this would require a lengthy legal process which would significantly delay the result and would be most unlikely to happen.

jamesd

Unlikely except when it matters: where the number of dubious votes could change the result of the election.