No evidence of ‘family voting’ at Gorton and Denton by-election, says Greater Manchester Police

The GMP said its now-concluded investigation into alleged influencing of voters at a polling booth (under Section 62C Representation of the People Act 1983 (Ballot Secrecy Act 2023)) began after a criminal report from the Reform UK party following a public statement made by independent electoral observers at Democracy Volunteers.

The force said officers had spoken to the four Democracy Volunteers observers present at polling stations on the day of the by-election (26 February) who had shared with us their eyewitness account.

“This includes some instances of more than one voter going into a booth at the same time, and instances of people looking over the shoulder of voters.”

The information the four Democracy Volunteers provided to the GMP’s investigation team, which was led by a senior investigating officer, estimated this may have happened on 32 occasions across 15 polling stations.

The GMP said: “The observers do not allege any verbal instruction or physical conduct that indicated one person was directing or coercing another regarding how to vote. This is a crucial part of the legislation to prove such an offence was committed.”

The investigation team also spoke to the Presiding Officers at 15 stations as well as the Acting Returning Officer, none of whom received any reports other than from Democracy Volunteers.

The GM said it had received no further criminal reports.

“For us to investigate allegations, we require an understanding of who the potential suspects may be, and evidence that may corroborate eyewitness accounts. For an investigation to meet the criminal threshold for prosecution, we require admissible evidence of intent or action aimed at influencing the vote,” it added.

“We have asked Democracy Volunteers for descriptions of those alleged to be involved, and timings on when these are believed to have occurred. These details were not documented by observers or the complainant, and we have not been provided with any identities or descriptions to pursue.”

The GMP said the absence of this information meant there was no remaining reasonable line of enquiry. “This also includes limitations with CCTV as an absence of descriptions, and votes not being time-stamped, meaning we are not able to identify individuals from footage.”

All 45 polling stations in the Gorton and Denton constituency were asked for CCTV from the day.

Forty-one of those polling stations told the GMP they did not have CCTV activated in the building as it would have compromised the secrecy of the vote during polling day, in line with advice given. 

The GMP said it seized and viewed CCTV from three of the remaining four polling stations. These were three polling stations that Democracy Volunteers visited.

The police also spoke to the Presiding Officer from each one.

“However, these stations do not show any evidence of anyone directing or coercing another regarding how to vote – the crucial part of the legislation to prove such an offence was committed,” the GMP said.

“There is no evidence to suggest any intent to influence or refrain a person from voting as stated in the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023.”

The GMP has been liaising with the Electoral Commission, with whom it has shared its findings.

Tom Stannard, chief executive of Manchester City Council and Returning Officer for the Gorton and Denton by-election, welcomed the conclusion of the GMP’s investigation.

He said: “Our elections team have also scrutinised the details of observers’ claims, cross-referencing them against our records from individual polling stations.

“The upshot of this examination is that we are confident that the allegations are not substantiated, and that the integrity of the by-election was not affected. This is supported by the findings of GMP’s investigation.”

Stannard added: “We reiterate that all of our polling station staff are comprehensively trained to look out for any signs of undue influence on voters and can, and do, intervene wherever necessary.

“We remain alive to all potential issues that could impact electoral integrity. Polling station staff preparing for the forthcoming local elections will again be trained on what to look out for to ensure best practice. But we cannot allow the inaccurate impression that there were significant issues at the Gorton and Denton by-election to stand.”

He also said that if observers had concerns they should have raised them with polling station staff immediately.  

“It is unfortunate that did not happen in this case. The fact that the Electoral Commission, in their newly-updated guidance for electoral observers, have made explicit that potential issues should be raised on the spot is very welcome. So too is the guidance that observers should base all conclusions on factual and verifiable evidence and not draw conclusions prematurely."