Leading pollster expresses concerns over voting in crucial Gorton and Denton by-election
Leading pollster Robert Hayward said: Independent plans to raise serious concerns about voting in the critical Gorton and Denton byelection after a group of election observers published a critical report.
Democracy Volunteers, which monitors the elections across Europe, claimed in the report published after the polls closed at 22:00 that they saw illegal “family voting” practices in 68 percent of the 22 ballot boxes.
The practice of two voters meeting, colluding or manipulating each other about voting was made illegal by the 2023 Electoral Bill.
The organisation, which has four volunteers working on the by-election, said in a statement: “Today we saw alarmingly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton. Based on our observations today, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK.”
Lord Hayward, who led the bill with all-party support, said: “The report prepared by Democracy Volunteers is worrying. The Ballot Box Secrecy Bill, which I introduced and passed through both Houses, should have stopped such practices. I am very disappointed and will discuss these details further with Democracy Volunteers.”
He added: “I may want to discuss the issues with the Electoral Commission and the government.”
Democracy Volunteers were given permission by the Electoral Commission to act as election observers and had previously raised concerns with Manchester City Council election staff about what they had observed.
The by-elections in Gorton and Denton come at a time when Labour, the Greens and the UK Reform Party have a chance of winning.
The British Elect pollster suggested all three parties could win, with the Greens on 31 per cent, Reform on 30 per cent and Labor on 29 per cent. At the 2024 general election the seat was Labour’s seventh safest seat, with a majority of 13,413 and 51 per cent of the vote.
The fate of Keir Starmer’s premiership already depends on the outcome of the by-election, and there are other allegations of dirty tricks.
The practice of “family voting” was made illegal when people voted to prevent their family members from seeing how they voted and sometimes telling them how to vote.
Volunteers for Democracy deployed four accredited election observers in the Gorton and Denton byelections, according to its report. The team attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending 30 to 45 minutes at each.
John Ault, director of Volunteers for Democracy, said: “We saw worryingly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton today. In our assessment based on our observations today, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK.”
‘We rarely report on election night, but the data we collected on family votes today is extremely high compared to other recent midterm elections.’
“In the recent Westminster parliamentary by-elections in Runcorn and Helsby, we observed family voting influencing 1 per cent of the electorate observed at 12 per cent of polling stations. In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting influencing 12 per cent of the electorate observed at 68 per cent of polling centres.”
The Electoral Bill follows an independent review of cases such as the 2014 Tower Hamlets mayoral election, which was declared invalid due to corruption and illegal practices.
Manchester City Council, which is overseeing the by-election, criticized Volunteers for Democracy for not raising concerns earlier.
A spokesman for the returning officer said: “Polling center staff are trained to investigate any evidence of improper influence on voters. “No such issues have been reported today.
“If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about the alleged issues, they could and should have brought them to us during voting hours so that immediate action could be taken.
“We operated a central by-election center that responded quickly to issues reported during the day, in liaison with police who were present at each polling station when necessary.
“It is extremely disappointing that Democracy Volunteers waited until the polls closed to make such claims.”
But Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “This is extremely worrying and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in Muslim-majority areas.”
