In 2004 a High Court judge - Election commissioner Richard Mawrey QC - commented that widespread vote-rigging during Birmingham's 2004 council elections would have "shamed a banana republic".
Now the spectre of electoral fraud in Birmingham appears to have reared its head once again.
According to official records, about 20,000 voters have disappeared from the postal votes register in the wards in Birmingham. In Bordesley Green and Aston the number of postal voters recorded has been reduced by 80%. In four other wards in the city, more than 50% of all postal voters have gone.
The catalyst for these mysterious changes was a joint audit involving computer checks organised by Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police designed to confirm that existing voters knew they were registered.
In the 2004 case of postal fraud relating to six seats won by Labour, Election commissioner Richard Mawrey commented that there had been "massive, systematic and organised fraud" and argued that at least 1,500 votes had been cast fraudulently in the city. One councillor was later cleared, on appeal, of corrupt practices, but five councillors had to stand down.
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