We have issued a variety of materials to promote the integrity of elections and assist in the prevention and detection of malpractice, in collaboration with a variety of partners.
Welsh language resources and guidance |
Reporting allegations of electoral malpractice
Electoral fraud is a serious issue, and can involve criminal offences.
Guidance for police in England and Wales
This is joint guidance produced with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to police forces in England and Wales:
- Preventing and detecting electoral malpractice (England and Wales edition) (PDF) - updated February 2013
- Policing elections in England and Wales (pocket guide - English version) (PDF)
ACPO produced additional guidance for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in November 2012; this complemented the guidance on preventing and detecting electoral malpractice, which remained current for those elections.
Guidance for police in Scotland
This is joint guidance produced with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) to police forces in Scotland:
- Preventing and detecting electoral malpractice (Scotland edition) (PDF) - updated February 2012
- Policing elections in Scotland (pocket guide) (PDF) - updated February 2011
Guidance for police in Northern Ireland
Code of conduct for campaigners: postal voting, proxy voting and polling stations
- Code of conduct for campaigners: postal voting, proxy voting and polling stations - updated March 2013 (PDF)
- Quick guide for Royal Mail drivers and delivery staff (PDF)
A code of conduct on handling applications to vote by post and postal ballots in Northern Ireland will be available soon.
Allegations of electoral malpractice
Our fourth annual study of cases of alleged electoral malpractice produced with the Associations of Chief Police Officers, was published in March 2012. It showed that there was no evidence of widespread or systematic attempts to undermine elections or referendums in 2011. Read the report at the link below:
Visit the elections page to find out more about our elections reporting
Previous malpractice reports
- Analysis of cases of alleged electoral malpractice in 2010 - full report (February 2011) (PDF), including an update of cases unresolved from 2009 (PDF)
- Analysis of the extent and nature of cases of alleged electoral malpractice relating to the June 2009 European Parliamentary elections in the UK and local government elections in England. With updates (from Dec 2010) of Table 5 - allegations by offence and Appendix D - allegations by Police Force area.
- Allegations of electoral malpractice at the 2008 elections in England and Wales (PDF) Further to this report, Table 2 - allegations by offence and Table D - allegations by Police Force were updated at Dec 2010 and are published here to show the outcome for every case identified in the 2008 analysis. There are now no unresolved cases reported in 2008.
- Allegations of electoral malpractice recorded by PNICC in 2007 (PDF)
