- Reporting allegations of electoral fraud
- Party or election finance allegations
- Our review of electoral fraud in the UK
- Guidance on preventing electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is a serious issue, and can involve criminal offences.
If you are concerned or think that an election-related crime may have been committed, you should first raise the matter with the Electoral Registration Officer or Returning Officer in your area.
They may be able to explain whether or not an election-related crime has been committed, and can refer it to the police if necessary, or provide you with the details of the police contact for the relevant area so that you can report the allegation yourself.
If you have evidence of an electoral offence having been committed, we urge you to go straight to the police. If appropriate, the police will investigate the matter. Every police force has designated a Single Point of Contact (known as a SPOC) to lead on election-related crime and who will give advice to local police officers. You should be prepared to give them a statement and substantiate your allegation.
| You can contact the Electoral Registration Officer or Returning Officer for your area through the elections office at your local authority. Contact details for all local authorities are available from our About my vote website. |
Party or election finance allegations
We do not regulate any of the electoral offences listed above. However, if your allegation relates to party, election or registered campaigner finance matters, such as spending or donations, then you should follow the advice on our party finance enforcement pages:
Electoral fraud in the UK – our review
There is a consistent underlying level of concern among voters about electoral fraud in the UK. These concerns are shared by a broad range of people with experience of standing for election or running elections, and are particularly focused on specific areas of the country. It is unlikely that these concerns will diminish in the immediate future.
In 2012 we commenced a wide-ranging review to identify whether there are opportunities to improve confidence in the security of electoral processes in the UK. There is an important balance to be sought between ensuring the integrity of electoral processes while guarding against risks to effective voter participation.
We have published an evidence and issues paper, which sets out information about electoral fraud in the UK and about concerns which people have raised during our initial consultation.
We now want to hear views on a range of possible changes to current electoral processes. Some of these changes would have an impact on voters; some would have a greater impact on candidates, political parties and campaigners.
We have also published data from police forces and an analysis of cases of alleged electoral fraud reported during 2012.
- The analysis of cases of alleged electoral fraud (PDF) is available here
- The set of full data from police forces (XLS) is here
We have published a further report detailing findings from the first stage of a two stage qualitative research study into perceptions of electoral fraud that forms part of our wider review into this area.
Next steps
This second stage of our review will gather views about options for change to address electoral fraud vulnerabilities from as wide a range of sources as possible. We are particularly interested in hearing evidence and views about the impact of possible changes on participation by voters, as well as on the security of electoral processes.
We aim to publish our final conclusions and any recommendations for change by autumn 2013, in time for any legislation to be introduced before the end of the current Parliament. In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with all involved to ensure that they understand and effectively deliver their responsibilities in preventing and detecting electoral fraud.
Get in touch
We would like to hear any views in response to this issues paper by Friday 9 August 2013 in order to take them into account during the next stage of the review. Please send your response to: fraudreview@electoralcommission.org.uk or contact 020 7271 0592 (public information line).
Guidance on preventing electoral fraud
We provide resources to Returning Officers, electoral administrators, candidates, agents, postal workers, the police and prosecuting authorities to help uphold and improve the integrity of the electoral process.
