Farage says he has reported ‘family voting’ claims in Gorton and Denton by-election to police
Nigel Farage said Reform UK reported allegations of illegal “family voting” in the Gorton and Denton by-election to police.
The Reform leader claimed there was “sectarian voting and fraud” in the election after his party came second behind the Greens, who accused Reform of trying to undermine the result.
The statement came after election watchdog group Volunteers for Democracy warned on Thursday that they had witnessed a “worryingly high level” of practice in which two voters either met, colluded or manipulated each other into voting.
The Electoral Commission encouraged “anyone who believes a crime has been committed to report it to the police.”
Mr Farage said: “Reform reported several cases of ‘family voting’ to the Electoral Commission and police today. The events witnessed yesterday are extremely worrying and raise serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in Muslim-majority areas. If this is what is happening at polling stations, imagine the potential for pressure through postal voting.”
Appearing to suggest his party would win the next election and be in government, he added: “If action isn’t taken now, then we will ensure it is after the next general election.”
The Electoral Commission later said it was “working very closely with the returning officer and the police to review all available information”.
Democracy Volunteers claimed that they witnessed “family voting” in 68 percent of the 22 ballot boxes monitored in the vote in which the Greens rode to victory; Reform came in second place in a humiliating night for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor Party, coming third in the historically safe red seat.
Labor has called on officials to investigate allegations of the illegal practice, which was outlawed by the Ballot Paper Secrecy Act 2023, and described the findings as “deeply worrying”.
Labor Party leader Anna Turley said it was “genuinely worrying to hear of the reports. I hope the relevant authorities will take this into account, look into it and take reasonable action.”
He said the problem was extremely serious because every game should be personal and confidential. “This is the cornerstone of our democracy.”
Democracy Volunteers, whose four volunteers worked in the by-election, said in a statement published as the polls closed at 22:00 on Thursday night that they saw that family votes were “worryingly high” in Gorton and Denton.
“Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting of any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK,” the statement said.
The organization said it attended 22 of the seat’s 45 polling stations, spending 30 to 45 minutes at each, and witnessed families voting at 15 of them.
He added that in a sample of 545 people who voted, there were 32 cases of family voting, including nine cases at one polling station alone.
Manchester City Council, which is overseeing the by-election, criticized the group for not raising concerns with staff earlier, saying there had been no reports of problems from polling stations in advance.
Leading pollster Robert Hayward, who wrote the law banning “family voting rights”, said the report was “worrying”. He added: “The Ballot Secrecy Act, which I introduced and signed into law in both houses, should have stopped such practices. I am very disappointed.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has suggested he would support an investigation into family votes. He told the BBC news night program: “If the recommendation is for an investigation or further action, then yes I would support that.”
The 2023 election bill follows an independent review into cases such as the 2014 Tower Hamlets mayoral election, which was declared invalid due to corruption and illegal practices.
A spokesman for the returning officer at Manchester City Council said: “Polling station 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.”
John Ault, Director of Volunteers for Democracy, said: “We rarely report on election night, but the data we collected on family voting today is extremely high compared to other recent midterm elections.
“In the recent Westminster parliamentary by-elections in Runcorn and Helsby, we found that family voting affected 1 per cent of voters in 12 per cent of polling stations. In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting influencing 12 per cent of voters observed in 68 per cent of polling centres.”
Greater Manchester Police said: “We can confirm that a report has been prepared. We are in the process of reviewing this report and will provide further updates in due course.”
