This isn’t illegal
No votes have been disclosed
It is reporting what campaigns have said
No votes have been disclosed
It is reporting what campaigns have said
Every campaign knows how many people have registered to vote in their constituency
Daily updates of the numbers of postal votes returned are available to agents or their approved representatives
Members of campaigns can attend the regular verification of postal votes
Daily updates of the numbers of postal votes returned are available to agents or their approved representatives
Members of campaigns can attend the regular verification of postal votes
If the a constituency has 20k postal votes issued and a campaigns data shows 15k of your voters are registered to vote by post and approx 17k people have voted by post the maths is on your side
Nothing illegal has happened
Nothing illegal has happened
Or from the other side if you know 20k are registered for postal votes and your data tells you 15k of those are people likely to vote for you and only 5k of the 20k have voted then it tells you something significant
And it is grim for your side
And it is grim for your side
That is all there is too it
It isn’t unusual for a press officer or a campaign spokesperson to say to a journalist asking “how is it going”
“Looking at the postal votes it looks grim”
It doesn’t mean they have counted or seen the way people have voted
It isn’t unusual for a press officer or a campaign spokesperson to say to a journalist asking “how is it going”
“Looking at the postal votes it looks grim”
It doesn’t mean they have counted or seen the way people have voted
Thank you
Please try to stay calm and DON’T call the police
No crime has been committed and the police have better things to do
Please try to stay calm and DON’T call the police
No crime has been committed and the police have better things to do
And finally
Think back say nine years
Try and remember the run up to the 2010 election
Senior journalists were constantly saying “labour are really worried about their postal vote turnout in some areas - labour insiders say it is considerably down on previous elections”
Think back say nine years
Try and remember the run up to the 2010 election
Senior journalists were constantly saying “labour are really worried about their postal vote turnout in some areas - labour insiders say it is considerably down on previous elections”
and from the Tory side they were briefing “looking at the postal vote turnout things look ok but we will be getting our vote out right up to 10pm on polling day”
It wasn’t illegal then and it isn’t illegal now
It wasn’t illegal then and it isn’t illegal now
But to show how difficult this area is: years ago I briefed a journalist in a constituency I was covering that we were a bit concerned about the postal vote numbers
The reporting was fine but an email came in the next day from the tories complaining that I had been counting PVs
The reporting was fine but an email came in the next day from the tories complaining that I had been counting PVs
Strangely enough my tory counterpart had actually briefed the same thing
Neither of us had seen a vote - we just knew the numbers
Neither of us had seen a vote - we just knew the numbers
And a lawyer speaks 
