Ex-Conservative councillor convicted of proxy vote fraud

An update on Mohammed Saghir, the former Conservative councillor in Calderdale who went on trial for electoral fraud earlier this year:

[He] has been found guilty of election fraud at Bradford Crown Court.

Mohammed Saghir, 63, of Gibbet Street, Halifax, applied for five proxy votes in other people’s names in the May 2008 local election…

Saghir, who did not attend court for his trial, is thought to be in Pakistan. His son, Shakar, was standing as an independent candidate in the election. [Halifax Evening Courier]

This area is rather a hot spot for electoral fraud problems at the moment given what others were also up to.