The elusive graffiti artist Banksy is famous for pranking British politics. Now his mischief targets the country’s June 8 election.
In a possible violation of UK election laws, he announced on his website: “Simply send in a photo of your ballot paper from polling day showing you voted against the Conservative incumbent and this complimentary gift will be mailed to you.”
But the free print on archival quality paper, is “only available to registered voters in the Bristol North and West, North Somerset, Thornbury, Kingswood and Filton constituencies.”
Don’t take this as a bribe, says a “lawyer’s note” beneath the bribe.
“This print is a souvenir piece of campaign material, it is in no way meant to influence the choices of the electorate, has no monetary value, is for amusement purposes only and is strictly not for re-sale. Terms and conditions to follow, postage not included.”
The Guardian newspaper noted, however, that Banksy fails to warn fans about the legal risks of breaching election secrecy laws by taking pictures of a ballot paper.
Under the Representation of the People Act, the law states: “No person shall directly or indirectly induce a voter to display his ballot paper after he has marked it so as to make known to any person the name of the candidate for whom he has or has not voted or as to the number on the back of the ballot paper given to the voter at that station.”