Vote rigging in Muslim communities ‘goes unchallenged because PC police are scared of causing offence’
Anit-corruption tsar Sir Eric Pickles said the 'integrity of democracy' in Britain is at stake
VOTE rigging in Muslim communities has gone unchallenged because “politically correct” police and other bodies are scared of causing offence, a hard-hitting report reveals today.
Authorities have also turned a “blind eye” to bullying and religious intimidation among Asian communities at election times, former Cabinet Minister Sir Eric Pickles found.
And he blasted watchdog the Electoral Commission for making the problem worse by promoting the use of foreign languages at polling stations, saying it “leaves the door open to fraud”.
The situation is so bad that Sir Eric called for the most dramatic overhaul of Britain’s electoral system ever – warning the “integrity of democracy” is at stake.
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David Cameron appointed Communities Secretary Sir Eric anti-corruption tsar to probe electoral fraud in the wake of a major voting scandal in Tower Hamlets, East London.
Lutfur Rahman was booted out as mayor after being found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices after being accused of claiming racism and Islamophobia to silence his critics.
Last year’s general election was also blighted by radical Muslims intimidating voters at polling stations by claiming that voting was “un-Islamic”.
And major postal voting fraud has been suspected in other mainly Asian areas – a decade after a judge found evidence of fraud in Birmingham that would “disgrace a banana republic”.
Sir Eric heard police had been reluctant to stop intimidation “maybe because of a supposed fear of claims of ‘discrimination’” – despite the fact one voter was told they would “burn in hell” for supporting the wrong candidate - and had given the impression they are “soft” on electoral fraud.
The top Tory said some cops were “too closely associated” with councils or local politicians, and failed to probe tip offs as they “were concerned about being pro-active on some issues because of potential allegations of discrimination”.
He said it was “astonishing” that no criminal charges were brought in the Tower Hamlets case, adding: “The Election Court heard how a voter was seen crying outside a polling station after allegedly being told by a supporter of Lutfur Rahman that it was ‘un-Islamic’ not to vote for Rahman, and that you were ‘not a good Muslim’ if you did not vote for him.
“The court found that Muslim clerics had participated in Lutfur Rahman’s campaign to persuade Muslim voters that it was their religious duty to vote for him.”
Authorities had also feared to intervene over massive postal vote abuse, including women and youngsters being told how to vote by elders, Sir Eric found.
Warning the true scale of the problem is unknown, he said: “There were concerns that influence and intimidation within households may not be reported, and that state institutions had turned a blind eye to such behaviour because of ‘politically correct’ over-sensitivities about ethnicity and religion.”
Sir Eric called for a package of radical measures to tackle the issue, including safe zones around polling stations, forcing people to produce ID when voting, ending the right to permanent postal votes and far tougher sentences for fraud.
He warned that Britain’s “trust-based” system is “becoming no-longer tenable”.
And he called for a far tougher approach on fraud in Asian areas, saying: “There are sometimes challenging issues over divisive community politics and ethnic-religious polarisation, but this is no excuse for failing to enforce British law and protect the integrity of our democratic process.
“The law must be applied equally and fairly to everyone. Integration and good community relations are undermined by the failure to uphold the rule of law and ensure fair play.”