A MAN from Hampshire who 'mocked the system' by spoiling ballot papers and posting his antics to social media has been ordered to serve 50 hours of unpaid work for election fraud.

Mitchell Christopher Edward Folland, 25, of Farm Road, Horton Heath in Eastleigh was found guilty of three counts of personation at a local/parliamentary election during a recent hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on Wednesday, November 2. 

The court heard how clerks at a polling station on Hoddinott Road asked Folland to provide his name and address on Friday, May 6 last year.

He spelt out Mitchell and gave an address in order to receive ballot papers. The clerks then asked him if his name was Carroll, to which he agreed.

He accepted the voting papers for Eastleigh Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections; proceeding to go into a voting booth and spoil them, before posting them into the ballot box.

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The court also heard how Folland recorded the whole event on his mobile phone while the device was in his pocket and proceeded to upload it onto social media. 

Appearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday, November 24, Folland was convicted and given a community order to complete 50 hours of unpaid work. 

Investigating officer, Sarah Wincewicz said: “We are privileged in this country to live in a democracy, where citizens can exercise their right to vote in various elections.

"Mr Folland could have used the opportunity to exercise his own right to vote. Instead, he not only deprived another citizen of being able to vote, but he did so in a way that voiced disdain for the system by openly mocking it, using social media as a platform for his antics.”