Journalist reported to police by electoral watchdog for voting twice in EU referendum

Top journalist Charles Moore has been reported to the Metropolitan Police after he admitted to voting twice in the EU referendum on 23 June. The former Daily Telegraph editor said the move was in the "public interest" in a bid to highlight alleged lax rules around the ballot process.

Moore, who is registered to vote Sussex and London, voted Leave in Sussex and later travelled to the capital to spoil his ballot.

"There I presented my London polling card, unchallenged," he wrote in The Spectator, the right-leaning magazine he edited between 1984 and 1990.

"I went into the booth and wrote on the ballot paper 'I am spoiling my ballot because I have voted already. This second vote is my protest at how lax the voting rules are."

The Electoral Commission has since reported the 59-year-old to the Metropolitan Police.

"Voting twice in a national poll like the EU referendum is a criminal offence," a spokesperson for the watchdog said. "We are aware of the article and have highlighted it to the police for their consideration."

Voters can be registered at more than one address if they meet residency requirements, which are assessed by local electoral registration officers.

The news comes after Sir Eric Pickles, the former communities and local government secretary, published his report into tackling electoral report. Pickles offered up 50 recommendations, including piloting some form of identification at polling stations.

The Electoral Fraud Review was commissioned following Lutfur Rahman's 2015 disqualification as Tower Hamlets mayor over corrupt and illegal practices.

"Last year's court ruling in Tower Hamlets was a wake-up call that state bodies need to do far more to stamp out corruption and restore public confidence," Pickles said.

"It was local residents who lost out from the crooked politicians who bullied them and wasted their money. The law must be applied equally and fairly to everyone. Integration and good community relations are undermined by the failure to uphold the rule of law and ensure fair play."

IBTimes UK has approached Spectator editor Fraser Nelson over email and Moore over social media site Twitter for comment.