2022 electoral fraud data
Summary
The UK has low levels of proven electoral fraud. There is no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud in 2022. Most cases (93%) resulted in the police taking no further action or were locally resolved through words of advice to those involved.
2022 elections
In May 2022, elections took place in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- Northern Ireland Assembly
- Local councils (England, Scotland and Wales)
- Local mayors (England)
- Combined Authority Mayors (England)
There were also 6 UK parliamentary by-elections during 2022.
A total of 193 cases of alleged electoral fraud were investigated by the police during 2022. Police issued one caution in relation to a case of alleged electoral fraud in 2022. There were two convictions and court proceedings have been initiated in relation to one other case.
This table shows the number of cases of alleged fraud reported to us by the police for elections held in 2022.
| Election | Number of cases |
|---|---|
| Local election | 179 |
| Non-election specific (e.g. rolling registration) | 8 |
| Local by-election | 2 |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | 1 |
| Local mayoral | 1 |
| Local referendum | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
Cases where the suspect was convicted
A conviction for voting more than once in the same electoral area
The Metropolitan Police received a report from Barnet Council’s Electoral Services Team that a man had voted from three different addresses in the London Borough of Barnet in the 2022 local elections. On 9 August 2023, he stood trial at the Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to two offences of voting at a local government election more than once in the same constituency or electoral area. The court fined him £3,177.60.
A conviction for publishing a false statement of fact about a candidate’s personal character or conduct and for failing to include an imprint on a leaflet
The Metropolitan Police received a report from an independent candidate at the local elections in Bromley in 2022. The candidate informed the police that hate posters about her had been distributed in her local area. A supporter of the candidate also provided details of a vehicle said to be involved in the distribution. This led the police to the suspect who admitted to the production and distribution of the leaflets in interview under caution.
He pleaded guilty to publishing a false statement of fact about the personal character or conduct of the candidate and for failing to include an imprint on the leaflets identifying himself as the printer/publisher. On 5 June 2023, he was:
• Fined £800 (£400 for each offence)
• Given an £80 surcharge
• Ordered to pay £1,825 in costs
Cases where the suspect accepted a police caution
Durham local election
The suspect in this case wanted to stand as a candidate in a local election. An allegation was made that she had forged a signature on a nomination form. The police spoke to the man whose signature was allegedly forged. He confirmed that he had not signed the form. The suspect admitted that she had forged his signature but believed that he would have supported her. She accepted a police caution for the offence.
Outcomes of all reported cases
Around two thirds of cases (61%) resulted in the police taking no further action. This means that the cases were not investigated further by the police because there was no evidence, there wasn’t enough evidence, or an offence wasn’t found.
This table and chart show the number and outcome of the cases that were reported to the police in 2022.
| Outcome | Number of cases | Percentage of total |
|---|---|---|
| No further action | 121 | 63% |
| Locally resolved | 62 | 32% |
| Under investigation | 4 | 2% |
| Conviction | 2 | 1% |
| Other | 2 | 1% |
| Caution | 1 | 0.5% |
| Court proceedings initiated | 1 | 0.5% |
Download our electoral fraud data
Types of electoral fraud allegations
Almost two third thirds of cases (64%) reported in 2022 were related to campaigning offences. Most of these were about:
- Campaigners not including details about the printer, promoter or publisher on election material - an ‘imprint’
- Someone making false statements about the personal character or conduct of a candidate.
This table and chart show the number of cases and types of offences that were investigated in 2022.
| Offence type | Number of cases | Percentage of total |
|---|---|---|
| Campaigning | 123 | 64% |
| Voting | 38 | 20% |
| Nomination | 18 | 9% |
| Registration | 13 | 6% |
| Other | 1 | 1% |
Personation
A total of 13 cases of alleged personation fraud were recorded by police forces in 2022.
The offence of personation involves someone pretending to be someone else so they can use that person’s vote. This can happen at a polling station, with a postal vote, or a proxy vote (where a voter has appointed someone else to cast their vote for them).
Just over half of those cases (7) involved allegations of personation in polling stations. All those cases resulted in the police taking no further action because there was no evidence or insufficient evidence.
This table shows the number of personation allegations and their outcomes.
| Personation type | Number of allegations | Outcome type and number |
|---|---|---|
| Polling station | 7 | No further action: 7 |
| Postal | 3 | No further action: 2 Conviction: 1 |
| Proxy | 3 | No further action: 2 Locally resolved: 1 |
Election Petitions
An election petition is a legal challenge to the result of an election.
There was one petition following elections held in 2022.
Aston Ward of Birmingham City Council
The petition claimed that the two successful Liberal Democrat candidates at the May 2022 election in the ward had made false allegations that one of the Labour candidates had bribed voters with packets of dates. The petition asked the court to void the outcome of the election. However, the Liberal Democrat candidates submitted doorbell video footage as evidence. This showed the Labour candidate and his supporters giving voters packets of dates with Labour stickers on them. Given this evidence, the Labour candidate applied to the court to withdraw the petition which the court granted.