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World Third Man Charged In Election Case

Chaan Pardesi

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SPNer
Oct 4, 2008
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772
London & Kuala Lumpur
Third man charged in election case

SINGH_220x147.jpg


Daljit Singh in court on October 5. Photo / Richard Robinson



A third man has been charged in connection with the alleged Super City voter scam.

The 48-year-old was arrested yesterday by Counties Manukau police investigating an alleged scam in which people from throughout the North Island falsely enrolled to vote in last weekend's Super City elections.

Police allege the man knowingly made a fake declaration and used a forged document. He was released on police bail and will appear in the Manukau District Court on Friday.

The Herald understands he lives at a Papakura address but enrolled as living at a house in Papatoetoe.

Two other men are already before the courts in relation to the voting scam.
Daljit Singh, a Labour Party candidate in the Papatoetoe subdivision of the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board, was last week named as being jointly charged with forgery.

He and another man, who has name suppression, are alleged to have forged change of address forms to falsely enrol voters in Papatoetoe.The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.

More than 300 voters have been removed from the electoral roll but it is understood up to 1500 enrolments are under police investigation.

Mr Singh has denied any wrongdoing and has said he is confident his name would be cleared. "I am absolutely a law-abiding citizen and I have a good faith in the judiciary so I am pretty sure it will work."

Last week Auckland City Mayor John Banks said Parliament needed to have a look at postal voting following the "worrying" allegations.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide yesterday said he was aware of concerns around postal voting.

A broad-ranging review of local government was due to begin next year and he expected that to pick up on some of those concerns.

The issue could also be looked at by the electoral law select committee as part of its usual review of local body elections. But he declined to give his own views.

"At this stage I would rather leave it to the people of New Zealand to make submissions and to Parliament to consider it."

Referring to Mr Singh, Labour Party president Andrew Little earlier said the party was "deeply disappointed that a candidate standing under its name is being prosecuted for alleged irregularities in enrolments for the local body elections".

He said Singh had been a member of the Labour Party since May.
"There is no tolerance in our party for conduct that undermines the integrity of the electoral process," Mr Little said.

Singh, a real estate agent with Barfoot and Thompson, is also a marriage celebrant and a licensed immigration adviser.

He is a spokesman for the NZ Sikh Society and convener of the Supreme Sikh Council. In his election campaign material he said he had lived in Papatoetoe for 17 years.

Singh is due back in court later in the month.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10680151
 

findingmyway

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Aug 17, 2010
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World citizen!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4201898/Sikhs-outraged-at-alleged-voter-fraud-link

Sikhs outraged at alleged voter fraud link

By MICHAEL FIELD - Stuff

Twelve Sikh groups in New Zealand have issued an angry statement over their being linked to alleged voter fraud in South Auckland. The statement, from Sikh Council of New Zealand secretary Verpal Singh, came as two men aged 36 and 39 appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday charged with forgery after a police inquiry into alleged voter fraud. They were granted interim name suppression but Mr Singh says the identities of the men are well known within the 10,000-strong Sikh community in New Zealand. "We, the leaders of main Sikh organisations of New Zealand, have discussed the issue of voter fraud in Papatoetoe in detail," the statement said. "We express grave concern at the finger of suspicion pointing towards a group of individuals belonging to the Sikh community of New Zealand. "He said the people under investigation for alleged voter fraud had earlier "hijacked" the New Zealand Sikh Society. That issue was behind a civil case in the High Court which had already cost Sikhs $100,000. The group had tried to establish a "Supreme Sikh Council of New Zealand". "Our community has a history in New Zealand going back to at least 1890 and have always worked hard and honestly," Mr Singh said. "It will be an understatement that the community has been increasingly fearful of this group under investigation as they have not only been entrenching themselves in government departments but also criminalising members of our community through duping them into making false declarations in immigration applications." Mr Singh said they had complained to Members of Parliament, cabinet ministers and government departments over the group. "Each time the community's complaints were given superficial treatment. "The wider Sikh community was grateful the police were now investigating the alleged voter fraud and he called on government agencies to widen their investigations. "On our part, we commit to providing these agencies every help we can just as we have done and are doing with the police in their investigation of voter fraud."
 

findingmyway

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SPNer
Aug 17, 2010
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3,778
World citizen!
It has not been a straightforward investigation as this article shows:

A police officer investigating the alleged Super City voter fraud has been accused of being aggressive and abusing interview subjects - but police bosses say he won't be taken off the inquiry. Police are investigating claims that people from throughout the North Island enrolled to vote in the Papatoetoe subdivision of the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board for this month's local government elections.

The allegations against the officer were made by the NZ Sikh Society, which has asked that he be removed from the investigation team while the society's claims are investigated. In a letter to Counties Manukau area commander Superintendent Mike Bush, Sikh Society spokesman Manpreet Singh said the officer's "general attitude" towards interviewees was "unnecessarily aggressive", and he had used abusive language. Mr Singh alleged the officer asked interviewees whom they would vote for in the Super City and tried to implicate a particular candidate with "leading" questions. "More seriously, he offered money to one interviewee in exchange to name one particular candidate for irregularities in elections."
Some community members alleged their properties were searched without warrants and that items had been removed from other properties - which were covered by search warrants - in breach of the conditions.

Mr Singh said the society believed police had breached protocols during the investigation. A number of individuals and families were prepared to give evidence concerning the allegations, he said. Mr Bush confirmed that a letter of complaint had been received and said an internal investigation had begun. "The complainant identifies one officer and levels specific allegations of that officer and furthermore requests that officer be removed from the investigation." But the officer would not be taken off the inquiry.
"Without pre-empting the outcome, I will confirm that the officer identified will not be removed from the investigation at this stage. "Mr Bush said the type of allegations levelled at the officer weren't consistent with the professionalism and dedication he had shown in his police career.
By Andrew Koubaridis


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10677269
 
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