Never again!

The Electoral Commission found reports of abuse and a lack of public confidence in the system used in the local and European elections last June and it has recommended all-postal voting never be repeated.

The verdict means that there is now likely to be a return to the ballot box system, although other options, including an element of postal voting, could be available.

One high-profile police investigation into allegations of election fraud was started in Bradford Council's Great Horton ward following complaints by Councillor the Reverend Paul Flowers (Lab).

Today, Coun Flowers said: "I am relieved by the recommendation, which seems to me to be infinite common sense."

Councillor Simon Cooke, a senior member of Bradford Council's Conservative group, also welcomed the report, but said: "I would hope it would have gone a little further and said that until such a time when we can go to a more secure system, we should return to a pre-2000 ballot box system."

The Commission's recommendation comes despite an improved voter turnout.

But its report says the ballots were "marred by problems", and concludes that "based on the evidence gathered in the pilots... all-postal voting should no longer be pursued."

It says the main problems were the tight timescale imposed by the Government, complex voting papers, ballot printing and delivery issues and reports of abuse which damaged public confidence.

In its report "Delivering democracy? The future of postal voting" the Commission now recommends more voter choice between traditional ballots and more modern systems.

But Sam Younger, chairman of The Electoral Commission, said: "The law and policy supporting remote voting methods need further reform before secure and convenient elections can be delivered."

As a result, the Commission is now recommending that if the Government ever goes ahead with a referendum in Yorkshire and the Humber it should not be all-postal.

The Commission says it is not yet sure whether postal voting has led to an increase in fraud - prosecutions in the pilot areas like Bradford could still be brought up to two years after the close of the poll.

Police are still investigating one of about seven allegations of voter irregularity in the Barkerend area following the controversial June elections.

A West Yorkshire police spokesman today said another investigation into an allegation at Manningham was recently concluded without any charges being brought.

Bradford's Labour group leader, Councillor Ian Greenwood, has now called for more detail on how the postal system could be made secure - including recommendations on how the police pursue allegations.

"I think there are issues about security that need to be resolved to give people confidence, but to say postal voting should never be pursued is really quite wrong," he said.

"If there is to be any confidence around postal voting you have to have legislative controls. You have to have a situation where you can be confident the people casting votes can do so without any external pressure."

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Councillor David Ward, added that increased turnout in itself was not enough.

"The Commission is missing the point," he said.

"The success of the system will be when there are more people voting in what is seen to be a fair and secret ballot, and unless they tighten up the system of applying for postal votes, abuse will still take place."

Leader of the Greens, Councillor Martin Love, added: "The Commission has taken on board the comments that so many people made in the build-up to the election. These were all things that were pointed out to the Government and were ignored.

"Postal voting is not the best way to go about increasing voter turnout. You will get a far greater turnout if people believe that what they are voting for is relevant."

In a joint statement David Lammy, Constitutional Affairs Minister, and Nick Raynsford, Minister for Local and Regional Government, said: "We acknowledge that some of the technical difficulties experienced during the election resulted in a number of electors having less time to complete and return their ballot papers than originally envisaged, and that the ensuing media attention will have had an impact on public confidence in the system.

"We are very keen to learn the lessons of the pilot and will pay close attention to the Commission's recommendations"

The Local Government Authority has now called for fraudulent applications of postal or proxy voting to be made arrestable offences.