Mark Pack

Two illegal donations totalling £101,500 dating back to 2004 and 2006 have been forfeited by the Conservative Party. »

A quick update on our previous coverage of the court case over more than £350,000 of impermissible donations accepted by UKIP. Last month the Supreme Court ruled in UKIP's favour, reducing the amount UKIP has to repay to just under £15,000. »

The following three graphs are from the Electoral Commission and show income and expenditure for the three main political parties as reflected in their annual accounts. There are some important exceptions to what they show, such as the money brought in and spent directly by election candidates, though from what I know of these exceptions [...] »

Having reviewed a complaint made about Zac Goldsmith's election expenses (the ones that didn't feature in that TV spat), the Electoral Commission has decided there's a strong enough case to warrant investigation by them. »

The allegations made against Zac Goldsmith highlight three areas of electoral law where the law leaves considerable latitude for interpretation and where the usual clarity that comes from an accumulation of case law is missing because of the paucity of cases that have considered the issues. »

On Wednesday last week Parliament had a Westminster Hall debate on the subject of electoral administration, triggered by Meg Munn, the Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley. Sheffield was one of the areas particularly badly affected by the problems with people queuing to vote at 10pm on polling day, and it was this issue which dominated [...] »

The United Kingdom Indpendence Party’s dispute with the Electoral Commission over its refusal to forfeit more than £350,000 of impermissable donations has this week escalated to the Supreme Court. »

The Electoral Commission is currently consulting on its draft performance standards for Counting Officers in Great Britain, which will supplement the existing standards for Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers. There are, however, some weaknesses in the current draft. »

The problems with electoral administration ranged far wider than those which caught the headlines. Perhaps the weirdest came in one polling station in Burnley where the caretaker was getting everyone turning up to vote to sign in and out of the building "for health and safety" reasons. »

The leafleting and press advertising campaign against a hung Parliament by the Young Britons’ Foundation has run into a mini-blizzard of legal queries and complaints Given at least one newspaper advertisement today and how widespread the leafleting campaign has been (as partly documented by Paul Walters), including several reports that at least some of the leafleting [...] »