Glenrothes by-election: In Scotland or Zimbabwe?

Remember the Glenrothes by-election that Brown won with a 6,000 majority?  It seems all is not well with the result:

The Election Commission has raised some concerns in a report published today:

….it said some areas where the votes were being counted and collated were obscured from view;

….voiced concern over aspects of the arrangements for postal voting;

….some concerns that the count was not as transparent as it could have been, due to the layout of tables in the hall;

….the first opening of returned postal votes did not take place until the day before polling day.  The timing of the postal vote openings and the potential consequences of that timetable gave us cause for concern;

Much more serious, the marked electoral register has been “lost”.  It should be kept for a minimum of 12 months. See here.

This is still unresolved:

The Electoral Commission is concerned at the loss of these documents and welcome assurances from the Scottish Courts Service that they are investigating the matter fully. Access to the marked register is important to ensuring transparency and every step should be taken to ensure this does not happen again.

At the time of the by-election the result came as a complete surprise, as did the high turnout.  It was even reported that Moses had gone to bed, having been told Labour would lose.

What went on in Glenrothes?

We will never know as the marked electoral register has been lost.

Perhaps election experts from Zimbabwe should be called in to investigate!