The BAME Officer for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Labour Party, Baz Ahmed, has boasted on Twitter of ‘receiving’ postal votes from local voters. He has even tweeted pictures of unsealed ballots voting for the Labour Party. Electoral Commission rules are clear that handling someone else’s ballot paper is in breach of the code.

Those two X’s are identical…

Electoral Commission rules clearly say:

“You should not touch or handle anyone else’s ballot paper.” “It is absolutely clear that anyone acting on behalf of a party or campaign should not solicit the collection of any ballot paper.” “If you are asked to take the completed ballot paper, you should ensure that the voter has sealed it first and then post it or take it to a polling station or office of the Returning Officer immediately, without interfering in any way with the package.” “If you are with a voter when they complete their ballot paper, remember they should complete it in secret. Equally, you should ensure that the voter seals the envelopes personally and immediately.”

One of the ballots Ahmed tweeted included personal details of a local voter, which Guido has obscured.

Somebody should really tell him he has committed multiple offences under PPERA. Plymouth Labour will have some serious questions to answer…

UPDATE: Luke Pollard has told Guido that he didn’t know this was going on, saying “If that was happening it would be illegal.”

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat has commented “This is a police matter not a joke and must be investigated immediately.”