As far back as 1703, Ashby v White recognised the right to "vote at the election of a person to represent him or [her] in Parliament, there to concur to the making of laws, which are to bind his liberty and property" as "a most transcendent thing, and of an high nature".(1703) 2 Ld Raym 938 This originally meant that any interference in that right would lead to damages. If the denial of voting would have changed the result, or if a vote was "conducted so badly that it was not substantially in accordance with the law" the vote would have to be run again.Morgan v Simpson [1975] QB 151, per Lord Denning MR So, in Morgan v Simpson the Court of Appeal declared that an election for a Greater London Council seat was not valid after it was found that 44 unstamped ballot papers were not counted. These common law principles predate statutory regulation, and therefore appear to apply to any vote, including elections and referendums.cf R (Wilson) v Prime Minister [2018] EWHC 3520 (Admin) , and E McGaughey, 'Could Brexit be Void?' (2018) King's Law Journal
