The House of Lords vote to remove Yorkshire and the North West from the postal-voting experiment scheduled for the June local and European Parliament elections adds another significant voice to the chorus of concern over this well-meant but misguided attempt to increase the number of votes cast.

In Bradford, named by Lord Greaves in yesterday's debate as one of the places where there had been allegations of fraud over previous postal balloting, widespread concern has already been expressed. The postal system appears to many to be so open to abuse by unscrupulous political forces that the gains to be made for democracy through encouraging more people to vote could be outweighed by the effects of corruption.

The Government has declared that it will pursue the matter and reverse the Lords vote in the Commons. However, this vote has made an already tight schedule tighter still.

The Association of Electoral Administrators, representing town hall staff who run elections, says that although it has a neutral stance on the legislation it was extremely concerned about the late decision to extend the number of pilots to Yorkshire and the North West. It is right to be even more concerned now that there seems likely to be a further delay.

As the association's spokesman says, the chances of error are magnified when decisions are rushed. Postal voting is fraught enough with dangers even given plenty of time for it to be organised. If it is pushed through in haste, without proper safeguards in place to cover every eventuality, the repercussions could be disastrous.