Radical Nats want voters to follow ballot boxes to count
RADICAL SNP activists yesterday urged voters to photograph their ballot papers and follow the boxes to count centres to prevent vote-tampering.
Some pro-independence campaigners still believe last September’s independence referendum result was fixed – a claim repeatedly rejected by party chiefs.
In an illustration of the growing radicalism within the Nationalist movement, some activists claimed that voting could be rigged in an effort to prevent SNP votes being properly counted.
Police and electoral officials were concerned about the risk of trouble after recent tussles during Nationalist protests at Labour election rallies in Glasgow.
Sources said Police Scotland commanders were briefed about the activists’ bizarre ballot paper plans – known as Operation Scallop.
Officials at City of Edinburgh Council said formal warnings were sent on Wednesday morning f r om Scotland’s el ectoral management board to returning officers in all 32 local authorities to watch for queues forming and for any disruption or ‘threatening behaviour’ at polling stations.
In an online campaign, activists urged voters to wait until the final hour of polling so they could track their ballot papers.
An advice sheet issued by the Twitter account for Glasgow-based IT company Spectrum Systems urged them to photograph their voting papers, check that each carries valid security markings and then watch them be correctly handled. It said they must not post any photographs before polling closes, not arouse police suspicions, and be ‘polite and courteous’ if challenged. They must also ‘comply with their legal requests without exception’.
Spectrum Systems director Simon Lott said the monitoring was intended to be peaceful and within the law. He added: ‘I will be watching my vote to make sure my vote gets to the count on time.
‘All I want to do is have my eyes there to make sure my ballot paper gets into the box as per the law, gets handled and checked properly, gets loaded into the van as per the law, gets driven off by Labour council drivers in Labour council vans completely unsupervised for the next two hours and until they go to the count. That gap needs to be supervised.’
Chief Superintendent Jim Baird said: ‘We are aware of this. However, we will not comment on specific details of security arrangements. I would like to take this opportunity to assure the public that appropriate policing and security arrangements will be put in place to ensure the election process runs smoothly.
‘The safety and security of the process is a top priority for Police Scotland and we have been liaising with the Electoral Commission and returning officers and will continue to do so throughout.’