Ealing Council Respond Over Election Allegations
Follows claims by columnist that postal votes may have been been viewed
Ealing Council has responded to accusations that postal votes for the highly marginal seat of Ealing Central and Acton may have been compromised.
Controversial columnist, Katie Hopkins, took to the social media platform twitter and retweeted comments from someone appearing to claim the postal votes from the constituency were not "looking good".
She told her 773,000 followers that she had written to the council and said an investigation had been launched.
A spokesperson for the Ealing Central and Acton Returning Officer, said:
“No postal votes are counted until after polling closes on Thursday, 8 June. We have robust processes in place to ensure that postal votes remain confidential. When envelopes are opened the ballot paper is placed face down so that the vote is not seen and ballots are then placed in a ballot box, which is then sealed and stored securely until the poll closes. Accredited postal vote agents are entitled to attend and observe these opening sessions. We can confirm that neither of the individuals named in the tweet have attended any of our opening sessions.
“We treat all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and we were in contact with Ms Hopkins and asked her to share any information with us either in person or via email. She has provided a screen shot of a tweet being widely shared on social media yesterday. Everyone who attends these opening sessions is given a copy of the legal secrecy requirements and we are reminding them of their duty to maintain the secrecy of the ballot.”
6th June 2017