article_snippet.sent: Labour was last night at the centre of a race row after text messages were sent to Asian voters in a key marginal constituency urging Asian voters to cast Asian voters postal ballots for ‘all Asian candidates’.
article_snippet.sent: One of the messages was apparently sent by Mohammed Hanif, a Labour councillor in Tory-controlled Pendle, previously identified as being at high risk of election fraud.
article_snippet.sent: ‘were a flagrant abuse of election laws’.
article_snippet.sent: Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, local Labour Party agent for the council elections, said: ‘There is nothing illegal in this.
article_snippet.sent: Any individual is free to send a text message asking a friend or family member to consider voting for a certain candidate.