LABOUR is planning to legislate to stop cheating in postal voting immediately after the general election in spite of repeated assurances from ministers that the present system is safe, The Times has learnt.

The disclosure will embarrass the Government, with critics pointing out that it is happy for the system to be used in the general election, even though it is clearly flawed enough to require speedy legislation.

It will prompt charges that the Government failed to act sooner because it was worried that a shake-up of the laws might affect its own vote. An estimated 15 per cent of votes on May 5 will be by post.

Reforms are likely to include a new offence of fraudulently applying for a postal vote and the publication of lists showing who votes by post so that people can check if impostors have stolen their ballot papers.

The measures have become a priority as Labour was thrown on the defensive over the issue. Two judges in the past week have said that the system was wide open to fraud after scandals in Birmingham and Blackburn, where Labour stole thousands of people’s postal votes in local elections.

The author of a report today on race riots in Oldham adds his voice to those giving warning that postal voting may make it easier to rig results in the general election. David Ritchie, chairman of the Oldham Independent Review into street clashes between Asians and police in 2001, found that community tensions were worsened by election cheating, such as people registering themselves several times on the electoral roll, including the names of dead people and impersonating others in polling booths.

He told The Times that he feared that postal voting could make it easier to commit these frauds: “Yes, it’s a good objective in general to try to encourage more people to vote but never should that be at the risk of allowing the system in this country to be corrupted. There were signs enough that the old system was, in certain areas, being corrupted and for that now to extend into postal voting is very unfortunate.”

Last night, opposition parties welcomed the Government’s belated recognition that fraud was a problem but were sceptical that the new laws would go far enough. Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for local government, said: “This is too little far too late and an admission that postal votes could be defrauded at this election.”

If Labour wins, it will be under intense pressure to introduce individual registration if it wants to continue using postal voting. Government sources last night confirmed that all the evidence showed that individual registration, where everyone in a household has to register separately, reduces the number of people who vote.

The Electoral Commission, whose recommendations have been repeatedly ignored by the Government, has consistently called for individual registration to help to combat fraud.

After the scandals in Birmingham and Blackburn, the Government will have to go out of its way to show probity and be seen to listen to the commission. John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Nick Raynsford, the Local Government Minister, who have both played down the problem of fraud, are likely to be moved if Labour wins. A new team of ministers may have to concede that individual registration is the only way to win back public confidence.

Although Labour now accepts that it must reform postal voting, ministers are vulnerable to accusations that they have dragged their heels. The Prime Minister can be portrayed as having rushed into calling a general election without giving Parliament enough time to introduce safeguards to ensure that the electoral system is fair.

Ministers are in the tricky position of publicly defending the present methods while privately preparing to change them. Tony Blair said last week: “Overall, postal voting is no more prone to fraud than other electoral systems.”

Government sources have disclosed that Peter Hain, the Leader of the House of Commons, wrote to the scrutiny committee at the beginning of the last parliamentary session in November disclosing that civil servants were close to completing a draft Electoral Administration and Reform Bill.

Proposals were due to be published between May and the summer, followed by a lengthy consultation process. But the growing row over postal voting fraud and worsening public distrust in the system has forced ministers to fast-track the changes.

Labour sources now say that reforms will be given a priority and a Bill will be announced at the start of the next session if the party wins.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are committed to tackling postal vote fraud if they come to power.

An investigation by The Times last June found widespread allegations of cheating and intimidation involving postal votes in Yorkshire and North West England and the judge in the Birmingham case named this newspaper as one of the few voices sounding the alarm.

Liam Fox, co-chairman of the Tory party said: “People want to see action before the general election to restore confidence in the system. Voter turnout is at an all-time low and people’s trust in the conduct of the Labour party is already undermined. Tony Blair must show that he intends to restore integrity to the system.”

The Department for Constitutional Affairs was still defending postal voting as safe and secure last night. “The general voting system works well and the postal voting element of it also works well,” a spokesman said. “There has been a miniscule instance of voting fraud. It’s something the Government is keen to stamp out.”

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth