Tag Archives: nick brown

Mark Pack

Ballot box security: adding your own seals

By Mark Pack | Thu 21st January 2010 - 10:39 pm

Although it’s normal for candidates to leave the security of ballot boxes firmly in the hands of elections staff, there is in fact a long-standing legal right dating back to the 1872 Ballot Act for candidates to put their own seals on ballot boxes.

It is a right that is only rarely used, such as in the 1999 European elections in Haringey. The Conservatives decided to put their own seals on ballot boxes, motivated in part by the usual European rules requiring a 3 day delay between polling day (Thursday) and the count (Sunday). On that occasion the seals caused more concerns …

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

It’s Brown vs Brown on electoral reform

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th January 2010 - 8:28 am

In a weird display of the mutual weakness at the top of the Labour Party, the Prime Minister and Chief Whip are in disagreement over Gordon Brown’s plans to legislate for a referendum on AV (which would be held after the general election).

Earlier this week the Parliamentary Labour Party debated the proposal and ended up divided and without agreement.

Whilst Gordon Brown and, rather surprisingly given his views on the Liberal Democrats, Jack Straw are both in favour, prominent opponents include Chief Whip Nick Brown. He seems to be particularly motivated by fears that under AV he would lose …

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