Toby's weird election notes
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jul 15 2007 at 3:01 PM
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As I was saying earlier, this is a very strange by-election. Sedgefield probably has the highest percentage of registered postal voters of anywhere in the country.

There are thirteen thousand registered postal addresses which means there could be as many as 20,000 pople who have already voted with five days still to go before the count.

In light of these figures I paid a visit to the police officer responsible for the area and for making sure that the system is not open to abuse and found him extremely friendly and helpful. He assured me that they are working to the latest guidelines drawn up by the Electoral Commission in February this year.

This revised format came after instances of electoral fraud in other parts of the country which has led, in some cases, to prison sentences being handed down.

The officer says they are well aware of this and are being extra vigilant. He has also passed a message to the public that people with postal votes should take great care of them. I left the meeting feeling very much re-assured.

It's been a busy weekend on the doorsteps again and I cannot thank enough our Chairman, Dr John Whittaker, and NEC member Rachel Oxley for bringing a team from the North West to help out.

I was interviewed by Tyne Tees Television for a piece they are running on Tuesday. When I met the crew it was pouring with wonderful English summer rain. So I was interviewed in a fish and chip shop about the EU and its fishing policy. Not exactly sure of the relevance to this campaign but I know that most politicians have to jump when the media deigns to pay attention.

By the by isn't is strange how Government Ministers have suddenly found urgent reasons to visit this part of the world. Up they come, at the taxpayers' expense, to make obscure announcements about questions of no relevance to this area. I am sure the fact that there is a by-election is a mere coincidence.

Ain't politics grand?

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