Worries over polling system 
  Special report: human rights in the UK

  The polling system to be used in the general election violates the
  Human Rights Act, the civil rights organisation Liberty says today. 

  Ballots are not truly secret because ballot papers are numbered, 
  making it possible to trace voters back to the electoral roll, says
  Liberty. 
  
  This breaches article three of protocol one to the European 
  convention on human rights, incorporated into UK law by the Human
  Rights Act. The article states that free elections will be held at
  reasonable intervals by secret ballot. 

  John Wadham, Liberty's director, said: "The importance of the 
  secret ballot cannot be overemphasised and is a fundamental right
  protected by the act. The government should take steps to change 
  the system so that vote-tracing is not possible."

  Under the current system, introduced by the Secret Ballot Act of
  1872, it is possible to trace voters. The serial number on each
  ballot can be matched to the stub it was torn from in the book of
  counterfoils because the electoral roll number is written on the 
  stub by the polling station clerk. 

  Mr Wadham warned that this loophole could be exploited by a corrupt
  official or the security services trying to find out how someone 
  voted.


  Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
  Monday May 28, 2001
  The Guardian


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