John Humphreys, a BBC radio host, and TV host Mariella Frostrup both took their children to the polls in the May 5 General Election to show them how democracy works. They found out.

According to Sherna Noah of PA News,

Humphrys said that what happened was “disgraceful”.

He made the remarks while interviewing Chairman of the Electoral Commission Sam Younger.

“I went along to cast my ballot and took my little boy to show him how democracy works in action and what happened? I couldn’t vote,” he said.

“They said you’ve already voted. I hadn’t already voted. But the very fact of applying, even though I hadn’t personally applied for a postal ballot, meant the presumption that I had voted. Disgraceful.

“My vote was stolen!”

Following Humphrys’ comments, TV presenter Mariella Frostrup telephoned Today to say a similar thing had happened to her.

She was told at the polling station that she had been sent a postal vote and would not be allowed to vote again.

She said: “I set off with my nine-month-old daughter, showing her what democracy was all about ... I was told that I was registered as a postal voter.

“There was a line through my name, so I couldn’t be allowed a ballot paper.

“That was that, I stood there arguing, they gave me a number to call.

“I was apoplectic as you can imagine. I still don’t understand how it happened. I had to walk away without voting.”

Meanwhile the BBC reported,

Electoral Commission chairman Sam Younger called for voter registration to be improved by people being asked to produce a signature and an address.

The Lib Dems are considering a legal challenge to results in Birmingham Ladywood where they lost to Labour.
....

The Daily Telegraph features a letter from a voter, John Lally, who witnessed a girl who "could not have been more than 12" turn up with a ballot paper and vote.

Officials had apparently been forced to authorise the ballot paper because they were not able to challenge her identification.

The talk-show hosts who were denied a ballot made a serious mistake: They tried to vote in their own name. Next time they should leave the voting to the children.

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Absentee-ballot fraud: A lesson unlearned (4/09/05)
Massive fraud anticipated in Britain's May 5 election; Court will not act (4/21/05)