The Electoral Commission's ability to bring prosecutions

Laws introduced by the UK Parliament when the Electoral Commission was established allowed us to bring prosecutions against those who broke electoral law relating to parties and campaigners. The Elections Act 2022 prevents us from being able to bring such prosecutions.

Effective enforcement when the rules are broken gives voters confidence in the electoral system. 

The UK Government does not consider this to be an area of work we should undertake and considered it to duplicate the work of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPS).

In the public interest, in order to fill any regulatory gap, the Police, the CPS, the PPS and the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (for Scotland) will need to work with us to take forward appropriate prosecutions. This means prosecuting the full range of offences, from the lower order criminal offences often brought to light through our investigatory work, right through to the more significant offences. 

Voters have the right to expect that any political party or campaigner which deliberately or recklessly breaks electoral law will face prosecution.