Police probe launched into anti-Lib Dem electoral fraud in Richmond

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Police probe launched into anti-Lib Dem electoral fraud in Richmond

By NewsHound | Sun 13th May 2012 - 1:00 pm

A couple of days ago Mary Reid, one of LibDemVoice’s day editors, reported the news of the fake election leaflets distributed in Richmond with the seeming intent of misleading voters about the views of local Lib Dems:

A number of local voters have admitted that they were taken in by the leaflets, decided not to vote Lib Dem as a result and voted Conservative in protest. This was a seat that we were hoping to take back from the Conservatives, but Jane Dodds lost by 146 votes.

The BBC now reports that the police are investigating the allegations of electoral fraud:

The election leaflets, alleged to have been designed to look like official Liberal Democrat literature, were said to have been handed out in Richmond ahead of the election on 3 May. They claim that Ms Dodds wanted to use a pub to house recovering drug addicts and she supported the construction of more than 500 flats above a supermarket.

Ms Dodds said: “They were not completely outrageous that anybody who picked them up could have felt that they were a prank. That’s why it is important that this is investigated properly and that it was seen as a process that was not fair to all of the electors in north Richmond.”

* Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary in print, on air or online.

Read more by NewsHound or more about jane dodds or richmond upon thames council.
This entry was posted in Election law.

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3 Comments

Robin 13th May '12 - 1:40pm

It’s Richmond Borough, not Kingston.
tonyhill 13th May '12 - 1:58pm

Has Goldsmith apologised for his tweets on the matter?
SerenaH 13th May '12 - 1:58pm

Err… that would be Richmond. Sorry to be picky.

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