HERE we go again. The local government elections are upon us and we’re getting ourselves into a right old lather over the possibility of postal vote fraud.

Print industry boss Angus Walker – and he ought to know – says in today’s Examiner that greater controls are needed in the production and supply chain.

Justifiable concern has also been expressed about the integrity of postal voting in a report by the Joseph Rowntree Trust.

Mr Walker and other people who think like him are dead right.

Postal voting was expanded as a hurried fix to solve the problem of declining turnouts at the polls and seems to have worked well in getting the numbers up.

But nobody knows how many of the extra voters are dead, imaginary or have had their wishes manipulated.

There are genuine concerns about how easy it is to cheat the system and an urgent overhaul is certainly needed before we enter into a Zimbabwe situation.

Many would agree that if people cannot be bothered to go to the polling station they do not deserve a vote.

There’s a strong case that we should not allow absentee voting at all, except for the infirm or in other extreme cases.

In the meantime, we are stuck with a scenario where supporters of political parties are determined to pound each other into submission by any means.

It is not an edifying sight and is yet more fuel for those who have become cynical with politics.