The ballot papers in the Tory Leadership contest were supposed to be delivered to Party Members today, but, due to concerns over the potential abuse of process, ballot papers have been delayed and will most likely be with Members on 11th August. The problem is that Party Members were to be allowed two opportunities to vote. Once, in a postal ballot and then later, an online vote could also be registered. In the past, Conservative Party Members have returned their ballots shortly after receiving them, so it was thought reasonable to also offer them an online vote in which they could change their minds if they so required.
Unfortunately, it has been decided that the potential for fraud is too great with the online voting system, as cross checking would be complicated and Members could actually end up having two votes registered. So, now, there will be just one opportunity to vote by post, each ballot having a unique number to ensure Members can only vote once. Bit of a shambles to be honest, and the change may favour Rishi Sunak who has been lagging in polls conducted on various segments of the Membership. To date, Liz Truss has been polling around 60% to Sunak’s 40%.