Report electoral fraud
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Overview
Your vote belongs to you. It doesn’t belong to anyone who intimidates you, or tries to bribe you, or anyone pretending to be you.
When someone deliberately tries to cheat at an election in this way, it could be electoral fraud.
Electoral fraud can include:
- making false statements about the personal character of a candidate
- offering an incentive to someone to get them to vote, to vote a certain way, or to stop them from voting
- interfering with postal votes
- including false statements or signatures on a candidate’s nomination forms
- registering to vote under a false name or without someone’s consent
- influencing someone to vote against their will
- pretending to be someone else and using their vote
Election fraud undermines the democratic process. It is a serious issue and offenders can be sent to prison.
Report electoral fraud
If you believe you have witnessed electoral fraud, or are concerned that it may be taking place, you should report it.
You can report electoral fraud by:
- calling the police on 101
- contacting Crimestoppers anonymously online, or by calling 0800 555 111
If you're unsure whether certain behaviour is allowed, you should contact the Electoral Registration Officer or Returning Officer for your local area. They are responsible for running the election or referendum and will have plans in place to identify suspicious behaviour.
What happens when you report electoral fraud
Reporting electoral fraud to the police
If you report electoral fraud to the police, you should ask for the Election Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for your area.
Election SPOCs are trained in electoral law, and we provide them with advice about preventing and detecting election-related crimes.
The SPOC will ask for details about the electoral fraud you have witnessed or the concerns you have, including any evidence you have that electoral fraud has taken place. You should be prepared to make a statement and to provide evidence to support your allegation. They will also ask for your contact details, in case they need to contact you for more information and so they can let you know the outcome of their investigation.
The SPOC will investigate, and determine if there has been an election-related crime. They may work with the Electoral Registration Officer or the Returning Officer for the election, or ask us for information about the rules.
Reporting electoral fraud to Crimestoppers
If you report electoral fraud to Crimestoppers, you will be asked for details about the electoral fraud you have witnessed or the concerns you have.
Reporting to Crimestoppers is anonymous, so you won’t have to give your details if you don’t want to.
What we're doing
We work closely with other organisations to prevent, detect, and take action against electoral fraud, including:
- local authorities
- police
- prosecuting authorities
- Royal Mail
- political parties and campaigners
We produce guidance for people involved in an election or referendum. This guidance helps everyone to follow best practice and stay within the law.
Throughout the year, police across the UK send us data about allegations of electoral fraud that they receive and investigate. Take a look at the data
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