Tory Leadership Ballots Delayed After Security Concerns Conservative Leadership

Postal ballot packs were to be sent from Monday to around 160,000 Tory members to choose between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. However, members have been informed that the ballots will arrive later than planned and may not arrive until August 11. An email on Tuesday night said: “Your ballot is now on the way – but it will arrive with you a little later than we originally said. “Please don’t worry. This is because we took some time to add some extra security to our ballot process, which delayed us slightly.” The announcement of the leadership contest is expected to take place on September 5, which is expected to remain the same despite the delay. The decision to delay sending the ballots follows advice from the National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC), part of the UK’s GCHQ hearing post. An NCSC spokesman said: “Defending the UK’s democratic and electoral processes is a priority for the NCSC and we work closely with all parliamentary political parties, local authorities and MPs to provide cyber security guidance and support. “As you would expect from the UK’s national cyber security authority, we provided advice to the Conservative Party on security issues for the online leadership vote.” The government’s communications headquarters, known as GCHQ, apparently warned of a security risk in which hackers could change Conservative members’ ballot papers, according to the Daily Telegraph, which first reported the story. The email to Conservative party members says they will have the option of voting by post or online, with codes to be deactivated once the vote for the latter option is taken to reduce the “risk of fraud”. It adds: “To vote online, simply enter the unique one-time codes printed on your ballot paper and complete the security questions. Once used, your passwords are invalid and you will not be able to re-enter the site. “If you decide to vote by mail … once you receive from the ballot company, we will disable your online codes.” Sunak trails the polls for Truss members in the Tories, and while some recent polls have shown the gap narrowing, a YouGov poll for The Times on Tuesday gave the foreign secretary 60% support with the former chancellor on 26%.

title: “Tory Leadership Ballots Delayed After Security Concerns Conservative Leadership " ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Homer Johnson”

Postal ballot packs were to be sent from Monday to around 160,000 Tory members to choose between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. However, members have been informed that the ballots will arrive later than planned and may not arrive until August 11. An email on Tuesday night said: “Your ballot is now on the way – but it will arrive with you a little later than we originally said. “Please don’t worry. This is because we took some time to add some extra security to our ballot process, which delayed us slightly.” The announcement of the leadership contest is expected to take place on September 5, which is expected to remain the same despite the delay. The decision to delay sending the ballots follows advice from the National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC), part of the UK’s GCHQ hearing post. An NCSC spokesman said: “Defending the UK’s democratic and electoral processes is a priority for the NCSC and we work closely with all parliamentary political parties, local authorities and MPs to provide cyber security guidance and support. “As you would expect from the UK’s national cyber security authority, we provided advice to the Conservative Party on security issues for the online leadership vote.” The government’s communications headquarters, known as GCHQ, apparently warned of a security risk in which hackers could change Conservative members’ ballot papers, according to the Daily Telegraph, which first reported the story. The email to Conservative party members says they will have the option of voting by post or online, with codes to be deactivated once the vote for the latter option is taken to reduce the “risk of fraud”. It adds: “To vote online, simply enter the unique one-time codes printed on your ballot paper and complete the security questions. Once used, your passwords are invalid and you will not be able to re-enter the site. “If you decide to vote by mail … once you receive from the ballot company, we will disable your online codes.” Sunak trails the polls for Truss members in the Tories, and while some recent polls have shown the gap narrowing, a YouGov poll for The Times on Tuesday gave the foreign secretary 60% support with the former chancellor on 26%.