Campaigners with concerns about electoral fraud and evidence to support those concerns should raise the matter with their election agent, party, or the Electoral Office.
The election agent, political party or Electoral Office may be able to explain whether an issue is an election-related crime or not. The election agent, political party or Electoral Office can also advise whether to refer the matter to the police and provide details of the police contact so that campaigners can report their allegation.
Concerns about breaches of the political finance rules should be raised directly with the Electoral Commission.
When campaigners suspect electoral fraud, they should be prepared to give the police a formal statement of allegations.
Unsubstantiated public claims (including on social media) from candidates or others about electoral fraud damages confidence in the electoral process. Therefore, any campaigner alleging fraud should give formal evidence to the police before publicising or reporting any specific allegation.
Any campaigner who has actual evidence that an electoral offence has been committed should report it directly and without delay to the PSNI.
Report suspected criminal matters via 101. If you feel that you or others are in immediate danger, call police on 999.
Data Protection
Campaigners must consider their legal responsibilities in relation to handling personal data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 when obtaining and processing voters’ data.
You are also required to understand your responsibilities for direct marketing during campaigns under the Privacy of Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
Campaigners must ensure that they comply with the UK GDPR, PECR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Campaigners can obtain advice and guidance on their obligations in relation to Data Protection from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Specific guidance on campaigning in elections is available on the ICO website (Guidance for the use of personal data in political campaigning | ICO). If data protection issues are raised with the Electoral Commission or the Electoral Office, we will pass them onto the ICO which may lead to investigation or enforcement action.