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Good work Graham!
Postal voting seems to be the easiest way to commit electoral fraud. I am puzzled why the authorities do not put a stop on polling cards when a postal voting application is made or vice versa. In the days of the internet and computerized databases it can't be that hard to ensure that people are not registered twice. Or retrospectively checking all postal ballots cast against the electoral register.
Its a shame your reply from the council is so vague be interesting to know what they actually do. And perhaps more interesting to know how many voters are registered to vote by post and where they are.

But not good enough and 'no cigar' yet, Rob. Graham appears too ready too quickly so far to let the fish off the hook for a truly professional investigative journalist. There appears to be a far more comprehensive and helpful guide to the iniquity of property based enhanced voting privileges and what to do about it here:



You should find the material at the link above extremely helpful towards the cause of bringing long overdue greater and truer democracy to Cornwall.

Here is your 'earlier post' to which you refer, Graham.

/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/04/second_home_voters.html

However, the fact is that your 'earlier post' was not initiated by you but was prompted by people contacting ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Cornwall to point out the deficiency of the information you were putting out (via your mouthpiece Laurence Reed, the lunchtime phone-in presenter) about enhanced second 'home' owner voting priveleges and the danger to Cornish Democracy of invalid votes being cast in Cornwall's General Election by people who don't live in Cornwall and who don't qualify to vote in Cornwall within the current 'equal residence' terms of the Electoral Commission's rules .

Both in your 'earlier post' and this one you appear to be 'wimping out' on this critical issue. As appears to have been noticed elsewhere:

How about you take up THE KEVIN LAVERY CHALLENGE a bit more enthusiastically and test things a bit more vigorously by sending Mr Lavery your personalised and journalistically professional variation of the L1 KEVIN LAVERY CHALLENGE letter template at:



Here it is:

'L1. The BIG ISSUE:
"Dear Mr Lavery,

Under the terms of The Freedom Of Information Act 2000-2009 please provide me/us with the following:

1.The total number of houses designated 'second homes' in each of the 6 Parliamentary constituencies of Cornwall and The Isles Of Scilly as identifiable by their owner's/owners' enjoyment of a 10% Council Tax discount.

2.The total number of individual entries in the electoral rolls of Cornwall and The Isles Of Scilly of people associated with those designated 90% Council Tax 'second homes' who have primary residences outside Cornwall.

3.An outline of the procedures you have in place to identify and scrutinise all 'second home owner' and/or family member electoral roll registrations and votes in the 2010 General Election in Cornwall and The Isles Of Scilly in order to separate those who comply fully with the current 'same amount of time' rule set out by The Electoral Commission from those who don't and your procedures for deregistering the latter in advance of the General Election or disqualifying and voiding the illegal votes of the latter before the final count of votes in each of Cornwall's six Parliamentary Constituencies for the 2010 General Election of our Westminster MPs.'

Perhaps you will be good enough to post your letter and Mr Lavery's thoroughgoing and detailed non-obfuscating reply here to help us all understand the situation more fully along with its implications for Cornish Democracy better.

The Duchy of Cornwall & Scilly General Election 2010 – The Kevin Lavery Challenge …continues: