SENIOR Labour officials were accused last night of orchestrating a postal ballot “dirty tricks” campaign amid rising concern over electoral fraud and malpractice.

An investigation by The Times has discovered that Labour’s General Secretary is urging activists to set up bogus ballot boxes today outside traditional polling stations in all-postal voting areas.

A document issued by Matt Carter, which has been seen by The Times, suggests that the activists should wear red rosettes to maximise the number of last-minute Labour votes collected in the bogus boxes, and to deter supporters of other parties from handing over completed voting slips.

The 30-page document, sent out to all party workers, also deliberately defies advice by the Electoral Commission by suggesting that “if asked” campaigners should collect completed ballot papers at the doorstep.

The latest evidence came as a third police force disclosed that it was investigating allegations of postal ballot fraud and the Conservatives accused the Government of playing “fast and loose” with democracy.

A Labour MP has also told The Times that election cheats are collecting postal votes and changing the choice of candidates using Tipp-Ex correction fluid.

An influential Commons committee announced that it was launching a fresh inquiry into the chaotic handling of the mass postal experiment and widespread claims of fraud and intimidation. The cross-party Committee of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister believes that so many problems have occurred in the past few days that it needs to reopen its inquiry into the pilot study of 14 million voters in four electoral regions.

Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives also stepped up their attacks on the Government, pointing out that ministers had ignored the Electoral Commission’s advice to limit the pilot to two regions.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, yesterday raised the spectre of a repeat of scenes in Florida in 2000, when the close-run US presidential election ended in weeks of legal wrangling over spoilt ballot papers and “hanging chads”. Mr Kennedy said: “My fear is that it will be the lawyers arguing in court for weeks or months about particular outcomes and particular alleged discrepancies.”

Michael Ancram, the Tory deputy leader, accused John Prescott, standing in for Tony Blair at Prime Minister’s Questions, of “breathtaking complacency” after the Deputy Prime Minister claimed that voter turnout had already gone up in postal ballot areas.

“Where have you been for the last few weeks? Thousands of electors have had postal votes sent back after failing to complete them properly. One council is having to operate three emergency polling stations because thousands of voters haven’t received their forms in time,” he said.

On Monday the Electoral Commission will start a thorough evaluation of the pilots and make a recommendation on whether all-postal ballots should be used in referendums for regional assemblies in the autumn, and for future local and general elections.

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