Very unusual! 100s of polimen guard polling booths in UK elections

Very unusual: 100s of polimen guard polling booths in UK elections

Quite uncharacteristic of the voting process of the United Kingdom, hundreds of policemen were deployed across polling stations in the Tower Hamlet Borough of London. Officers are in place at every polling station in the east London borough, which has been rocked by an electoral fraud scandal. Tower Hamlet situated east of the City of London and north of the River Thames has a large populations of Asians and an Islamic fundamentalist hotbed.

However, the Tower Hamlets council said it was building on its "excellent electoral processes".

Two weeks ago, the council election which took place last year was branded corrupt and illegal in a High Court judgment and disgraced mayor Lutfur Rahman thrown out of office. A re-vote has been ordered.

Some 346 police officers are on election duties in the borough today, with voters remarking on Twitter that they have never seen such a police presence before and saying it was "good to see after recent elections".

Police stationed outside the Tower Hamlets voting stations this morning. They looked a little bored but good to see after recent elections

— Alex Tutty (@AGTutty) May 7, 2015

Police at my polling station in Tower Hamlets today - not seen that before #IVoted

— Emily Lines (@emilyrlines) May 7, 2015

Never seen a police presence at a polling station before. Then again I've also never voted in Tower Hamlets before #GE2015

— Mark Farrington (@Mark_Farrington) May 7, 2015

The council said the high police presence was "always part of our plans for this year".

A spokesman added: "In July 2014, the Electoral Commission published a report which recognised that the measures Tower Hamlets put in place to combat fraud were some of the most detailed and robust in the country.

"The council is building on the excellent electoral processes that we already have in place."

Police are tasked with preventing large groups of supporters gathering around polling stations and "obstructing voters", he said.

A string of other measures are in place, including an email address for agents and candidates to report crimes and extra training for polling officers.

Speaking about London as a whole, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "An appropriate policing plan will be in place; this will include visible policing at some polling stations and general patrols across London."

Another unusual sight in United Kingdom's general elections was the sighting of a military tank in the  Royal Arsenal polling station in Woolwich, .

-London Evening Standard