When I founded the Save General Election Night campaign, I set out a whole range of reasons as to why it is important that the votes are counted immediately at the close of poll on the Thursday night.
I downplayed the issue of the risk to the integrity of the ballot through having millions of ballot papers left uncounted overnight in thousands of unopened ballot boxes.
But in an intervention in support of the campaign's aim, no less a figure than the Government Chief Whip, Nick Brown, has today called for the retention of Thursday counts in order to minimise the risk of electoral fraud.
Mr Brown is MP for Newcastle East and Wallsend, which falls within Newcastle Council - an authority which is insistent on counting the ballot papers on the Friday morning at the coming general election.
He tells the Newcastle Journal:
“The reason the votes are counted immediately after the polls close is to stop people cheating.
“Leaving blank ballot papers and lists of those who haven’t voted and the ballot boxes all together in the same place overnight is not a reassuring prospect. The scope for fraud is obvious.”