News In brief
Elections in the UK are open to fraud and fall short of international standards, according to a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Measures introduced to modernise the electoral system, such as postal and electronic voting, have caused an increase in convictions for electoral fraud have led to greater vulnerability generally. The report, Purity of Election in the UK, claims “current controversies about the integrity of elections in the UK are without precedent in recent British political history”. It was found that efforts to increase voter turnout had instead resulted in decreased public confidence in the system.