(Postal Voting is the only safe way
to
protect Democracy!)
The Government is about to alter proxy voting
laws for May's local elections to allow people suffering from coronavirus to
nominate a friend to vote for them up to 5pm on polling day.
The date for registering a proxy voter will be cut from April 27 to 5pm on May 5, in the hope that those suffering from the virus will not feel they have to risk spreading it by going to polling stations.
The change applies to local elections in England and Wales, and has been supported by the Electoral Commission, which will work with the police to ensure the move does not increase the risk of fraud.
Critics point towards how difficult it is for Election Officers to guarantee the signatures of voters who will be allowed to vote late and are ill as peoples signatures vary depending on circumstance and proxy voting as late as 5pm on a polling day will exacerbate the problems of ensuring the May elections are both covid free and democratically safe as unlike the use of postal voting checks will be difficult to fully verify.
Support for a major Government backed take up of postal voting and a reframed message via TV advertising over the next few weeks would gift Councils, Police, the Public and the Electoral Commission the comfort that authenticity can be correctly clarified ensuring a safety net of knowledge that these elections will be both covid free and democratically safe.
