Alternative voting methods are designed to match changing lifestyles

The Electoral Commission says postal voting for those who want it is here to stay but new safeguards are needed to ensure confidence in the system.

In an effort to boost turnout, the commission also wants to make it easier for people to register to vote, opening the way for electronic registration.

In last month's local elections, all-postal votes were trialled by 38 councils. The commission is still assessing those pilot schemes, but says there does not seem to have been widespread fraud.

Tuesday's report comes after the review of the polling system begun after the 2001 general election, which saw turnout drop to record levels.

'Outdated'

Electoral Commission chairman Sam Younger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the review was aimed at ensuring integrity in the voting system balanced against increasing participation.

"At the heart of what we are recommending is a change in the way we run the registration system," he said.

There should be a move away from the "traditional and frankly anachronistic household registration to individual registration with individual identifiers".

Such changes would help make postal voting secure and also "open up with the national electronic register the way to electronic voting if indeed that is that way we go in the future".

Ensuring confidence

All-postal votes have seen turnout rise significantly in the trial areas, although critics have raised worries about fraud and complaints that people should be able to choose how they vote.

Mr Younger said: "We are in an era where postal voting on demand, even if not all postal voting, is here to stay.

"But it is important that we make sure that the security surrounding it is such as to give public confidence."

Among the changes of the law being proposed by the commission are:

• Making applying fraudulently for a postal vote an offence
• Giving police power to arrest people for impersonation at a polling station
• Establishing a code of practice preventing candidates and party workers from being involved in filling in people's postal vote forms

The commission will produce its report on the trials of all-postal voting at this year's local elections at the end of July.

"It is pretty clear that there is very little incidence of actual fraud reported," said Mr Younger.

"There is a lot fear that this may be open to fraud, hence one wants to make sure that you close that off as far as possible."

The government is reportedly set to bring in new legislation to make it easier to vote by post.

Yvette Cooper, a minister at the Lord Chancellor's Department, is expected to attend the launch of the commission's new report and welcome the recommendations in principle.