Ruth Davidson of the Better Together campaign said on referendum night that postal ballots across Scotland were being opened to 'sample which way the vote would go'.
This is in direct contradiction to statements from the Scottish Electoral Commission that postal ballots could not be opened until they were added to the on-site polling station ballots made on September 18th.
In the run-up to that night, all they were supposed to do was to "open covering envelope ‘B’ and remove the postal voting statement and ballot paper envelope 'A', then check that the number on the postal voting statement in envelope 'B' matches the number on the ballot paper envelope ‘A’" *
This is further circumstantial evidence of widespread voter fraud committed during the Scottish referendum campaign.
The relevant legislation is the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013, Schedule 7.7.d :
7)Every person attending the proceedings in connection with the issue or the receipt of ballot papers for persons voting by post in the referendum must maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of voting in the referendum and must not—
(a)except for a purpose authorised by law, communicate, before the poll is closed, to any person any information obtained at those proceedings as to the official mark,
(b)except for a purpose authorised by law, communicate to any person at any time any information obtained at those proceedings as to the unique identifying number on the back of any ballot paper sent to any person,
(c)except for a purpose authorised by law, attempt to ascertain at the proceedings in connection with the receipt of ballot papers the unique identifying number on the back of any ballot paper, or
(d)attempt to ascertain at the proceedings in connection with the receipt of the ballot papers the outcome for which any vote is given in any particular ballot paper or communicate any information with respect thereto obtained at those proceedings.
Please read correspondence with Scottish Electoral Commission on Postal Ballots below :
On the days around the referendum I had an email exchange with the Electoral Commission. I wanted to find out what the procedure for maintaining the security and integrity of ballet boxes in transit was. And also what procedures were in place to protect the postal vote framework from rigging.
Below is the full exchange in chronology order. You'll notice that I didn't get any direct answers to my specific inquiries. I was send a documents contain procedures and a link to further details - in neither of these are guidelines for dealing with the issues I asked about. Read for your self. Please contact me if you have any questions about these emails...
[My first message to the Electoral Commission]
Dear Sir/Madam, Please can you provided me details of the practical measures that you have put in place to ensure that the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum is a true representation of the will of voters in Scotland? i. e., that genuine ballet boxes are not swapped for rigged ballet boxes in transit etc etc. Yours sincerely, .....
-----
[The first reply]
On 15 Sep 2014 15:59, Alexandra wrote:
Dear ......,
Thank you for your e-mail, which raises a very valid concern. I hope the following information answers your query:
The postal votes will be counted along with the standard votes.
It is important to note that all 32 local counts in the referendum on independence for Scotland are supervised by senior staff and are observed by some, if not all, of the following:
The Electoral Commission
Counting Agents from various registered campaign groups
Neutral observers who have been accredited through the Electoral Commission’s electoral observation scheme
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Alexandra
---------------
[My second email to them]
From:
Sent: 15 September 2014 17:27
To: Alexandra Cowell
Subject: Re: your query
Dear Alexandra,
Thank you for your reply and for information regarding the actual count.
I would like information regarding the full sum of measures a compete process, that I assume you have in place, and that you are implementing, to ensure a robust and secure process from voter registration to result declaration?
I assume this information is outlined in a document held by you?
Kind regards,
.........
-------------
[They're second reply]
On 16/09/14 09:47, Alexandra Cowell wrote:
Dear ......,
Thanks for your reply, and I’m sorry my first email didn’t address all of your concerns. As you can imagine, the measures we are taking to ensure a secure process are highly detailed, and we don’t have a bullet point list of them, however you can read all the information and guidance for the conduct for the referendum online here– links on the left hand side. Please feel free to contact me as often as you like with any questions.
Best wishes,
Alexandra
-------------------
[My third email to them]
From: ...
Sent: 19 September 2014 15:15
To: Alexandra Cowell
Subject: Re: your query
Dear Alexandra,
Please can you outline: the protocol for receiving, storing and securing all postal votes from receipt of envelopes to inclusion in the count?; the protocol for transfer of ballet boxes from polling stations to count locations and inclusion in the count?.
Are there region total or over all total counts for postal votes alone (i.e., what are the total postal votes for yes and no)? If not, what is the reasoning for this?
Best wishes,
....
------------------
[They're third and final reply]
Dear ....,
I’ve attached a couple of documents (one attachment, one link below), which outline the guidelines issued by Elections Scotland, and overseen by the Office of the Chief Counting Officer.
Addressing your second question, there is no separate count for postal votes alone. In the run-up to the polling day, the Counting Officer would have undertaken a number of postal vote opening sessions, which can be witnessed by approved observers. During these sessions the personal identifiers (signature and date of birth) are verified. Where these match, the ballot papers are stored securely and taken to the count on polling day, where they are then added to the ballot papers from polling stations. Postal votes would also have been handed in on polling day to the council offices and polling stations, and the identifiers checked prior to commencement of the count. However, once the postal vote identifiers have been verified, the postal votes are added to the on-site count, thereby rendering them indistinguishable from the on-site ballots.
I hope that the links below will provide some answers to your questions. Following the links, I have also excerpted some immediately relevant information:
Helpful links:
n [Link] n [Link]
I hope this helps, but, as always, please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. (I should just let you know that Tuesday, 23 September is my last day with The Electoral Commission, but I will forward all my correspondence to a colleague before I leave.)
Best,
Alexandra
-------------;;;;;
Text from the attached document mentioned in the email above...
Postal vote opening procedure
5.23 The processes to be followed when opening postal ballot packs are provided for in legislation
Stage 1: opening of the postal voters box
count the number of returned postal ballot packs (i.e., the number of envelopes ‘B’ in the postal voters ballot box)
open covering envelope ‘B’ and remove the postal voting statement and ballot paper envelope
check the number on the postal voting statement matches the number on the ballot paper envelope (envelope ‘A’)
place a mark in the postal voters list or postal proxy voters list as appropriate to show that a postal voting statement has been returned
Stage 2: checking the personal identifiers
check that the voter has signed the statement and given a date of birth
check the signature and date of birth on the postal voting statement matches those on the personal identifiers record
if you reject a postal voting statement, you must mark it as “rejected”, attach it to the ballot paper envelope and place it in the receptacle for rejected votes. If there is no ballot paper envelope, you must attach the statement to the ballot paper. Before placing it in the receptacle, you must show it to any agents present and, if any of them object to your decision, you must add the words “rejection objected to”.75 You should record the reason for the rejection
where the voter has been granted a waiver, there will be no signature to check.
Stage 3: opening of postal ballot paper envelopes
open the ballot paper envelope (envelope ‘A’) and remove the ballot paper, ensuring the ballot paper is kept face down at all times
check the number on the ballot paper envelope (envelope ‘A’) matches the unique identifying number on the back of the ballot paper
place the ballot paper in the postal ballot box
[End of exchange]
Any thoughts?
SOURCE
* http://www.sott.net/article/286057-Scottish-referendum-result-undoubtedly-rigged#comment112557
The relevant legislation is the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013, Schedule 7.7.d :
7)Every person attending the proceedings in connection with the issue or the receipt of ballot papers for persons voting by post in the referendum must maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of voting in the referendum and must not—
(a)except for a purpose authorised by law, communicate, before the poll is closed, to any person any information obtained at those proceedings as to the official mark,
(b)except for a purpose authorised by law, communicate to any person at any time any information obtained at those proceedings as to the unique identifying number on the back of any ballot paper sent to any person,
(c)except for a purpose authorised by law, attempt to ascertain at the proceedings in connection with the receipt of ballot papers the unique identifying number on the back of any ballot paper, or
(d)attempt to ascertain at the proceedings in connection with the receipt of the ballot papers the outcome for which any vote is given in any particular ballot paper or communicate any information with respect thereto obtained at those proceedings.
SEE ALSO:
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/scotland-where-do-all-secret-ballots-go.html
http://www.change.org/p/court-of-session-review-scottish-independence-referendum?recruiter=150210260&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
http://www.change.org/p/alex-salmond-we-the-undersigned-demand-a-revote-of-the-scottish-referendum-counted-by-impartial-international-parties?share_id=hfaGelnhhT&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition
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