Reform UK has reported allegations of illegal “family voting” in the Gorton and Denton by-election to police, Nigel Farage has said.
The Reform leader claimed there was “sectarian voting and cheating” in the election after his party came second to the Greens, who accused Reform of trying to undermine the result.
It comes after the election observer group Democracy Volunteers warned it had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of the practice, in which two voters either confer, collude, or direct each other on voting, on Thursday.
The Electoral Commission encouraged “anyone who believes an offence has occurred to report it to the police”.
Mr Farage said: “Reform has today reported the many cases of ‘family voting’ to the Electoral Commission and the police. What was witnessed yesterday is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas. If this is what was happening at polling stations, just imagine the potential for coercion with postal votes.”
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 the available information”.
Democracy Volunteers claimed to have witnessed “family voting” in 68 per cent of 22 polling stations monitored in the vote that saw the Greens storm to victory, with Reform in second place on a humiliating night for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour, which trailed in third in the historically safe red seat.
Labour has called on the authorities to look into claims of the illegal practice, outlawed by the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023, calling the findings “very concerning”.
Labour’s chair Anna Turley said the reports were “really concerning to hear. I hope the appropriate authorities will be looking at that, examining it and taking any reasonable steps.”
She said the issue was “deeply serious because every vote should be personal, secret. That’s the cornerstone of our democracy.”
In a statement released just as polls closed at 10pm on Thursday night, Democracy Volunteers, which had four volunteers working at the by-election, said it had seen “concerningly high levels” of family voting in Gorton and Denton.
“Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK,” it said.
The organisation said it attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the seat, spending 30 to 45 minutes in each, and witnessed family voting in 15 of them.
It added that from a sample of 545 individuals casting their vote, there were 32 cases of family voting, including nine cases in just one polling station.
Manchester City Council, which was overseeing the by-election, was critical of the group for not raising concerns with staff earlier, saying that no issues were reported from polling stations beforehand.
Leading pollster Robert Hayward, who authored the legislation that outlawed “family voting”, said the report was “concerning”. He added: “The Ballot Secrecy Act, which I introduced and steered through both houses into law, should have stopped such practices. I am very disappointed.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski suggested he would back a probe into family voting. He told the BBC’s Newsnight programme: “If the recommendation is that there should be an inquiry or further steps, then yes I’d support that.”
The 2023 elections bill followed an independent review into cases such as the 2014 Tower Hamlets mayoral election, which was declared void due to corrupt and illegal practices.
A spokesperson for the acting returning officer at Manchester City Council said: “Polling station staff are trained to look out for any evidence of undue influence on voters. No such issues have been reported today.
“If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about alleged issues, they could and should have raised them with us during polling hours so that immediate action could be taken.”
John Ault, director of Democracy Volunteers, said: “We rarely issue a report on the night of an election, but the data we have collected today on family voting, when compared to other recent by-elections, is extremely high.
“In the other recent Westminster parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, we saw family voting in 12 per cent of polling stations, affecting one per cent of voters. In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting in 68 per cent of polling stations, affecting 12 per cent of those voters observed.”
Greater Manchester Police said: “We can confirm a report has been made. We are in the process of reviewing this report and will provide a further update in due course.”
