Britains-directly-elected-Muslim-mayor-faces-ban-office-accused-faking-postal-votes-smearing-opponents-month-s-election.html

Election petition sent to High Court claims Tower Hamlets poll was illegal
Lutfur Rahman accused of smearing rival John Biggs by calling him racist
Documents allege team influenced voters inside and outside polling stations
Scotland Yard had officers on every one and said no major incident reported
If petition is successful it could lead to new election and see mayor banned
Mr Rahman said: 'I have done, and we have done, nothing wrong'

Published: 12:38 GMT, 18 June 2014 | Updated: 16:46 GMT, 18 June 2014

Britain's first elected Muslim mayor could face a High Court battle after he was accused of electoral fraud and calling his main rival a racist to sabotage his chances.

Documents challenging the result of last month's election in Tower Hamlets, east London, also claim Lutfur Rahman paid supporters to gather inside and outside polling stations to influence voters.

His Labour opponent John Biggs was also illegally smeared during last month's campaign, the election petition argues.

High Court battle: An election petition has been lodged at the High Court claiming Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman and his team broke electoral law and smeared opponent John Biggs

According to The Times the High Court paperwork also says supporters of the Bangladeshi-born mayor were canvassing inside polling stations and stood by residents as they voted while leaving pro-Rahman leaflets.

It is also claimed that Mr Rahman - or members of his team - sent postal votes from people not on the electoral roll.

If any of the allegations are true, which Mr Rahman denies, they are illegal and the cross-party team who submitted the documents claim the alleged acts changed the election result.

Mr Rahman was elected for a second term in a tight contest with Mr Biggs in May, beating him by 37,000 votes to 34,000.

But if the High Court petition succeeds in arguing the election was illegal there could be a new vote and Mr Rahman could be banned if he personally was involved.

He told BBC London today: 'I have done, and we have done, nothing wrong.'

The allegations contrast with reports from Scotland Yard, who stationed an officer at every polling station in the borough but said no major incident was reported.

Mr Biggs told The Times: 'I was distressed by the accusations, which have no foundation. They were part of a cynical campaign to try to polarise community opinion.'

Alibor Choudhury, Mayor Rahman's agent responded: 'All candidates in the mayoral election accept the results. This petition challenging the results does not raise any new issues or evidence.'

Protection: Scotland Yard put an officer on every polling station but critics claim that Rahman supporters managed to influence voters inside and outside, it was alleged today

The troubled London borough has a history of allegations of election crime and is led by Mr Rahman, a Bangladeshi-born law graduate who controls an all-Asian cabinet at the top of the council.

He was dropped by the Labour Party after claims that he was linked to the extremist Islamic Forum of Europe - which wants to create a sharia state – but first swept to power as mayor of one of London’s poorest boroughs in 2010.

Earlier this year Mr Rahman - who has been criticised for his £42,000-a-year taxpayer-funded chauffeur - faced allegations, broadcast in a Panorama documentary, of diverting funds to interest groups in exchange for political support. Police last month said that they had found no evidence of criminality.

Last month Britain’s election watchdog, the Electoral Commission, launched an investigation into one of the country’s most controversial councils amid claims that voting resembled ‘third-world village politics.’

Counting in Tower Hamlets took five days to finish after widespread allegations of intimidation at polling stations in the east London borough.

Local Conservative and Labour politicians claimed crowds of supporters from the Tower Hamlets First party - founded by local mayor Lutfur Rahman – shouted at voters and left leaflets inside polling booths.

They said officials counting votes were surrounded by ‘arguments, threats and chaos’ and political activists disputed how they counted ballot papers.

One councillor said there had been a 21 per cent discrepancy between the first and second count of votes in one council ward.