Newham scans postal votes

London borough uses signature scanning system to check for irregularities

Newham Council is using signature scanning to help combat postal vote fraud.

The system compares scanned in signatures taken from postal vote applications with signatures on the ballot itself looking for inaccuracies and differences between the two.

Council chief executive Dave Burbage says he wants to ensure people can trust the postal vote system.

'We strongly believe that this system could lead to many new and innovative possibilities, such as electronically registering all voters in the borough,' he said.

The signature checking system has been provided to the council by Strand Enterprise Ltd, and has so far detected irregularities in two per cent of the votes Newham Council has received.

Votes flagged up by the software are checked manually, and if they are still found not to match, the final decision on the vote goes to the returning officer.

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