The state of Oregon has for 8 years used only mailed ballots, returned in double envelopes, either mailed back or dropped into ballot boxes at public buildings. This has not increased fraud but has raised the percentage of citizens voting.

Jane, Portland OR, USA

I don't think voting fraud would be possible here in Pembrokeshire, everyone on the county electorate map is accounted for, I use postal vote, have done so on two occasions. There is still apathy in voting, I only wish there were more 'liberals' and I don't mean democrats!

yvonne-Mandy Nicholl , Tenby, Pembrokeshire

Electoral reform is necessary and not just with reform of postal voting, but also who votes. Being someone with knowledge of how the immigration system works, Home Office staff have noted that many overstayers and illegal immigrants provide evidence of their eligibility to vote!

Cromwell, Liverpool,

I also agree with Tom and Anne: It's deliberate. There is no other possible reason for the present state of ministerial denial.
Still, it won't matter for much longer! Did YOU vote for Manuel Barroso? No? thought not me neither. But he's president of the EU of which we're all fully paid-up members.

Martin C, Twickenham, UK

LP ignores the fact that we always had PVs on demand. The rules are now slightly easier, but the applicant has to provide personal identifiers that can be checked against the actual postal vote. That's why the most recent case of electoral fraud (Slough, Tory) wasn't PVs but large scale personation.

Mike, Slough, UK

Being disabled i accepted postal voting as i wasn't going to give up my vote, but then Labour decided it would fiddle the system. My faith in it was destroyed so i cancelled postal voting and opted to struggle to the polling booth. What a disgrace this country is under Labour, time they were gone.

Samantha Jones, Bucks, England

No chance Libby.The present lot suppose it will advantage them, why do you think it was offered in the first place ?
You and I may care about the health of democracy.Labour cares about votes.

robert everitt, wolverhampton,

The biggest threat to the democratic system is party politics not postal voting.

Candidates selected by central office and following the whip are not representing the electorate, couple this with zero accountability and a few postal votes is immaterial.

Russ, Glasgow,

I think that postal voting should be abolished in its entirety. It used to be the case that you turned up with your card, or proof of identity, to vote. Why is that not acceptable today?

tone, Cambridge,

While we are at voting reform perhaps we should look again at first past the post and realise that voters in non-marginals make the perfectly rational decision that there is no point in voting in their constituency since the winner is already pre-ordained. That has got to be a factor in low-turn out

Tim Longman, Chester,

why has the article only one clear reference (in biraderi) to muslim immigrants? why must ms purves use innuendo to get published? standards of truth for muslims are different from those of other religions. everything they do is affected, from commercial practice to being on oath in court

stephen, london,

A very good article. However, it is not enough to concentrate on postal voting making fraud easier. Postal vote on demand IS WRONG IN ITSELF. Even without frauds,it amounts to abolishing the guarantee of a secret ballot, one of the six demands of the 1840s Chartists, granted in the 1872 Ballot Act.

R A Zambardino, Stafford, U.K.

Asians, how about the Jews in Tower Hamlets? The deafening silence of a PC taboo.

David, Manchester, UK

ZanuLabour benefits from postal voting so the decree to allow it stands

John, Peterborough, UK

Postal votining effectively disenfranchies thousands of women from ethnic minorities. And that's from a Labour government!

Peter Sammons, Cambridge, UK

Week in, week out Libby Purves writes calm, rational, unhysterical common sense, getting to the nub of so many crucial issues without making her columns a sop to her own ego. Libby is it not time you stood for political office? You would have my vote.

Lyn, Birmingham,

...and whilst we're on the subject of voting at elections, the closed list is another abomination which forces the electorate to vote by party instead of by individual. Another attack on true democracy leaving me with no choice but a spoiled ballot paper at each of the last EU polls

stephen grant, cheltenham, UK

Be realistic! How do you expect NuLab to change this when it surely works in their favour. Would you change if it was giving you all the power? It may be looked into after the elections and only if NuLab is doing badly, otherwise, the system is here to stay so live with it.

yt, London, UK

Fred of Horsham is of course abolutely right. New Labour has stuffed the country with immigrants knowing full well that they will of course vote for their benefactors - New Labour. The icing on the cake for New Labour is that so many are adept and willing to perpetrate fraudulent postal voting.

Callan, Liverpool, England

This is why the LabLibCon establishment suck up so much to Muslim communities. "Elders" instruct heads of households (i.e. fathers) who to vote for, who then pass on the same message to their wives and voting-age children. Result? Votes by the shovel-full.

Myles, Glasgow,

I absolutely agree. Low turnout is not the problem, only a symptom of an unfair electoral system and too much money in politics. "Increasing turnout" is just bandaid over the cancer.

Arie Kruiniger, Bristol,

Why oh why do people look at the syptoms rather than the underlying and unseen cause?It was brought in by a corrupt goverment and a parliament that has submitetd itself to the dictates of a 'bastard' and corrupt dictatorial European (so called) union.

G Blezard, london, uk

For those of us who do jobs where we can be sent away at a day's notice postal voting is essential yet I doubt I could prove that I had to have it. I admit to being surprised how easy it was to get but then registering to vote at all is equally simple and unchecked.

Alice, Cambridge,

We need to spend the money that it takes to have honest elections with the secrecy of the ballot box guaranteed for all. That means letting people vote in any polling station in the country, and "polling stations on wheels" visiting those who are genuinely unable to visit any polling station.

Mike Scott, London,

Simple. Anybody adopting the corrupt voting practices of their original countries of domicile should, on being found guilty, be returned there forthwith.

Will, London, England

Yep - a good article, and I agree with it.

Annie Hancock, Bath, UK

I have a polling card for my 19 year old son who is away at the moment. I am quite sure that, if I were dishonest, I could find a male of roughly the same age who did not have the right to vote and sell it to him, if he had the desire to have his say. Alternatively my 16 year old son could use it.

Victoria, London, England

I really enjoy using the postal vote. It is convenient, efficient and I feel it should be kept.

Pay more attention on how to make it more honest and safe.

Jeremy, London, UK

"from democracy flows government"
Do you use the same dictionary as the rest of us? Democracy is about choice and government is about control.
If you want democracy, write a constitution that starts by telling politicians and bureaucrats what they can't do, preferably on pain of jail or death.

KR, Stockport,

Trade unions couldn't bully members when voting became private. The same principles apply in general elections. Fairness is ensured with secure privacy.

John, Peterborough, UK

A greater fraud on democracy is the current bias towards one party by ignoring out-of-date constituency boundaries which do not reflect population flow.

John, Peterborough, UK

Postal voting has been a disaster. Agreed.

May be this why no one seems to want ID cards; they would make it more difficult to obtain a postal voting form.

But why was it brought it in. Nulab presumably thought that THEY would benefit more than the opposition.

It certainly was not altruistic

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU.

No, Smith of Kent:
Purvis does not condemn any postal voters: she condemns the Labour government and its bone-headed and/or meretricious policies. And as usual she is right.

Rosemary, Germany,

Good article. A judge declared that electoral fraud in Birmingham would shame a Banana republic - the government blatantly refused to take any decisive action then.

This is because a corrupt government will do absolutely anything to remain in power as we now see in Zimbabwe.

We deserve better

Jason Mead, Bristol, England

I firmly believe this is not incompetence on the part of the government; I believe they have deliberately debased our voting system to make it easier for fraud to occur. We probably shouldn't expect any better from politicians, but what has happened to the electoral commission?

Sebastian, Bedford, UK

Well at least making it harder to get on the register should improve the turnout percentages

Andy Rooney, London,

I would have thought the Iraqis would be the best choice to run our elections. They have the experience, they need the money and they are not likely to be intimidated. Meanwhile, we could get the French to run our railways and the Germans to to run our schools. Airports - any suggestions?

Frank Upton, Solihull,

We vote on Thursdays so that the count is on Friday and the victors can be ready to take up their posts on Monday having had a weekend to collect their thoughts. Smart or what?

Michael, Northampton, UK

Why would an unelected leader show any concern at all for the small matter of a dodgy electoral system?
Equally, on what grounds is that same leader able to criticise Mugabe?

m collins, Leeds,

Is stealing a few votes any worse than reneging on practically every election promise made over the last 10+ years ? Live by the fraud ... you die by the fraud .

Benzo , Nr Chelmsford,

Words cannot express how angry this makes me and what is worse is the response from government ministers that appropriate safeguards are in place. Presumably this is because Labour are the main beneficiaries of this type of fraud so it is not in their interests to do anything about it?

Patrick, Cambridge,

"It is obviously important not to demonise ethnic minorities" Why not? If it was English voters doing this Ms Purves would not fail to condemn us. When this country imports hundreds of thousands of the Third World it also imports all the habits that have kept them as "Third World".

Fred, Horsham,

I have my suspicions about the motives of the Blair govenment on this issue too. I strongly believe that only those who can prove they need a postal vote should get one. For the rest, if they cannot be bothered to walk to the polling station, why should their opinion be heard?

Mike, Hertfordshire, England

By the way, can anyone tell me why we always vote on Thursdays?

Mike, Hertfordshire, England

Is it at all plausible that this was deliberate?

Tim Whitworth, Basingstoke, Britain

"It is obviously important not to demonise ethnic minorities" - why not if they are chiefly responsible for the abuses?

Roger Angove, Penzance,

What a devastatingly casual phrase in Smith of Kent's comment:: "Dangerous areas". What a horrifying indication of the depths this once secure society has sunk to.

MikeMSN, Midsomer Norton, UK

Sighhhhhh!!.............Whoever you vote for, the Government gets in!
Yuk, yuk, yuk!
You could not get a fag paper twixt the lot of them and their policies!
What we need now is persons of proven capability to run this country!
The problem is, who would want to, only megalomaniacs!

GERONIMO, LONDON, MIDDLESEX

Purves wrongly condemns all postal voters because of the corruption of a few. Postal voting is essential when local government places voting venues miles from residents' homes or in dangerous areas. The elderly cannot walk long distances. Original registration should be in person w/photo ID.

Smith, Kent,

Could we not vote near our workplace ,electronically, than be stuck to polling booths at home? So many of us work, and could be away from home on poling day that postal votes are the easiest option. If only we could vote at lunchtime near our workplaces, then perhaps more people would vote.

Pete B, London, UK

Thanks, Ms Purves: over 40 years I think I have missed 3 votes, none postal, often fitting them round awkward work /travel commitments.
The idea that a crooked postal vote can cancel my honest one fills me with rage, ethnic minorities or not.
PREVENTION, not prosecution, should uphold our RIGHTS.

MikeM, St. Albans, England

I'd be in favour of that as long as we replace one-day Thursday elections with two days over the weekend

Mike Homfray, Liverpool,

I disagree Blair's government did this without a thought about the result. I think they knew quite clearly that postal voting on demand would be open to fraud and that it would benefit them. They were/are happy to govern with 36% of the vote. They are not interested in the views of the people.

Tom Moncrieff, London, England

I couldn't agree more.

Anne Murphy, London, UK