MADAM, Is there no limit to the insolence of bureaucrats?

As you reported earlier, the local elections next May will be conducted entirely by postal voting over three weeks: no polling stations or boxes. This radical but irrevocable change has been foisted at short notice on the electorate by Herefordshire Council without any public consultation.

And it gets worse. The council wants to use the new system to provide information on voters to political parties.

As I understand their proposal, the envelopes for returning completed ballot papers will be bar-coded so parties can be informed whether individual electors have voted or not.

As a 'checker' outside polling stations during local and parliamentary elections I was subject to strict rules.

We could only invite voters to tell us or show us the polling number on the official card, but the voter could refuse.

Political parties of all sorts used this information to stir up the laggards, and 'get the party vote out'.

The new proposal removes the voter's choice and is therefore an intrusion into personal privacy, possibly illegally so. Furthermore, possible misuse of this information could be envisaged.

I urge the council to drop this thoroughly bad idea.

Alan Stone,

'Damsons', Bredwardine.