Electoral systems at 'breaking point'

The UK's electoral administration systems have reached "breaking point" and are open to large scale fraud, a report has found.

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust said measures aimed at boosting turnout, including increasing postal voting, were harming the integrity of the electoral process.

In a report on Monday it called for all voters to be required to produce photo ID at polling stations, and more robust systems for monitoring postal and proxy votes.

It also called for restrictions on campaign spending by parties at constituency level, noting that there is "substantial evidence" that money targeted on marginal seats can have a "powerful impact".

Report author Stuart Wilks-Heeg said: "It's very concerning that ministers tend to focus on 'quick fixes' to solve declining turnout and ignore genuine concerns about how easy it can be to cheat the system.

"The evidence continues to mount up and shows how we are desperately in need of an electoral system that robustly befits the 21st century, without belying our 19th century democratic roots."

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We have put in place a range of measures to prevent abuse of the electoral process including introducing new penalties and strengthening existing penalties, introducing additional identifier requirements for postal voting and making significant investment in supporting systems to prevent fraud."