Pensioner 'maddened' about proxy vote application in her name

An election fraud trial has heard how an Island pensioner was ‘maddened’ to discover a proxy vote application had been made in her name.

A statement from Elsie Ellwood was read out at the trial of four people accused of manipulating the proxy voting system to get Kevin Woodford elected.

Mrs Ellwood said she was visited by a blonde woman in the run up to the Douglas East by-election in May 2010 and thought she was from the government.

The court heard Mrs Ellwood was asked to sign a form, which she did, thinking it would mean someone would come to her home and collect her vote on polling day.

The form was actually a proxy application form allowing someone to vote on her behalf.
Mrs Ellwood was 75 at the time her statement was taken in 2010 and had been living in sheltered accommodation in Douglas.

She said the woman who visited her was 'only in the flat for a few minutes' and did not explain the proxy voting system.
'The whole situation maddens me, I am upset that people have been underhand and not above board in trying to take away my vote,' said Mrs Ellwood.

Another woman - Mariane Clague – said she was in her lounge when her husband opened the door to two women in 2010.

'My husband, Ernie talked to them- I wasn't paying any attention at the time,' she said in her statement.
'I do not recall signing a form but the signature on the form is mine.'

The trial heard statements from several other Douglas pensioners who also signed proxy vote applications after being visited by canvassers from Mr Woodford's campaign.

The four defendants deny all the charges against them

The trial continues