Going postal
The Conservatives and Labour need to start reversing the Lib Dem surge within the next few days, and ideally (for them) by the end of the weekend.
We keep thinking that polling day is still 15 days away. But for millions of voters the polls open this coming Monday when people who have applied for postal votes should receive their ballot papers.
In 2005, 15 per cent of all votes cast were by post. The rules are a bit tighter this time, but some analysts think the postal vote in 2010 could be as high as one in five voters.
Past experience shows that most postal voters tend to cast their ballots within only a day or two of receiving them.
That means that by the time of the third TV debate on Thursday 29 April - hosted by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - around ten per cent of all votes in the 2010 election could already have been cast - maybe more.
So tomorrow's debate is hugely important to the Conservatives and Labour. Otherwise the Lib Dem surge may start taking effect on how people vote - from Monday.
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
Comment number 1.
At 21st Apr 2010, stevie wrote:can we have inky fingers, please
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Comment number 2.
At 21st Apr 2010, jauntycyclist wrote:a nice man comes a round and says they will fill it in for me.....
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Comment number 3.
At 21st Apr 2010, spywednesday wrote:With Gordon Brown taking every opportunity to cosy up to the Lib Dems there's a real danger that he is going to come across as weak and desperate and end up pushing even more voters away from Labour. On the other hand "Prime Minister Clegg" does have an interesting ring to it!
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Apr 2010, the-agenda wrote:The real issue with postal votes is the worrying scope for fraud, particularly in marginal seats. The rules may be a little tighter this time, as you say, but the changes required to make postal votes secure won't take effect until 2015 at the earliest.
More on this at
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Comment number 5.
At 22nd Apr 2010, bright-eyedwendym wrote:I'm afraid Labour has form in Scotland for postal votes making a difference to results and then going missing but like so much else here Labour rules and no-one investigates.
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