Ukip leadership candidate who called for paedophiles to face the death penalty wants a rerun of the election after multiple ballots sent out
Former parliamentary candidate John Rees-Evans said the battle for the top job no longer had integrity and his opponents would use it against him
THE UKIP leadership candidate who called for paedophiles to face the death penalty wants a rerun of the election after multiple ballots were sent out to voters.
Former parliamentary candidate John Rees-Evans said the battle for the top job no longer had integrity and his opponents would use it against him.
He said that some people had received multiple ballots, and others had reported a mix-up with their forms. He also expressed concern that the ballot papers would be able to be cross-checked in time for the results to be announced.
"Unfortunately, I have been treated in such a way by some supporters of other candidates that I believe they would be strongly motivated to do whatever they could to take advantage of the situation," he said.
"We cannot trust them not to abuse this opportunity."
But a Ukip spokesperson told The Sun that they had received less than 10 queries about the election so far, which was around half the amount they usually got.
"He wants to claim the entire process is corrupt in some way," the Ukip spokesperson added, saying that they used an external body, Electoral Reform Services, to run the election process.
"It is unusual for a candidate to claim that their voters had more than one ballot," the spokeperson said, calling for anyone with queries to come forward.
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Mr Rees-Evans, who declared he would run for the leadership at the end of October, said that he made a mistake by claiming a "homosexual donkey" tried to rape his horse.
Speaking on LBC a few weeks later, he called for courts to bring back the death penalty for paedophiles, but only if the victims are under 13.
He also stormed out of a hustings meeting in Newport a few weeks back.
Mr Rees-Evans is battling for the top spot after Ukip leader Diane James stepped down after just 18 days in the role.
Nigel Farage, the former leader, is filling in for the meantime until the replacement is announced in early December.
Mr Rees-Evans is fighting for the job alongside former deputy leader Paul Nuttall, and ex-deputy chairman Suzanne Evans.