Do postal votes allow more coercion / blackmail to take place?

Question

I've always loved voting by post - no guilty feeling on plling day when you realise you've left it too late to go and vote - but this story made me think.

"The BBC has spoken to one woman who says male relatives told her who to vote for while other women had been made to sign already-completed forms. Her claim has been backed up by Respect Councillor Salma Yaqoob, who represents Birmingham's Sparkbrook ward. She said women in the city were being "emotionally blackmailed" and the only solution was to abolish postal voting."

What are your thoughts? :-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7428438.stm

Answer 1

Postal voting is far too open to abuse.  There are a lot of male dominated cultures in this country and they will order their wives or daughters to vote in line with their wishes.

Answer 2

Yes, postal voting should be abolished. The only people who would be hurt by this are the elderly, but they're too senile to be trusted with the vote anyway.

Answer 3

They certainly did in my area ! Once, the only people allowed a postal vote were those who could prove that they would be away from home on election day. How things have changed!