Following an investigation into family voting during a recent by-election, the city’s law enforcement have dismissed allegations.
Greater Manchester Police were asked to look into potential instances in which one person had directly influencer the vote of another. Although Reform UK had filed a complaint with the authority, this was based on reports by the independent watchdog Democracy Volunteers.
Having reported that representatives of the organisation had observed so-called family voting on 32 occasions at 15 polling stations, nobody was able to identify individuals involved.
Police have also said the observers ‘do not allege any verbal instruction or physical conduct that indicted on person was directing or coercing another regarding how to vote’. This criteria is necessary in order to prove an offence has been committed.
‘Our elections era have also scrutinised the details of observers’ claims, cross referencing them against our records from individual polling stations,’ said Tom Stannard, Chief Executive at Manchester City Council. ‘The upshot of this examination is that we are confident that the allegations are not substantiated, and that the integrity of the by-election was not affected.’
He also added that polling staff preparing for local elections ‘are comprehensively trained to look out for any signs of undue influence on voters. ‘We cannot allow the inaccurate impression that there were signifiant issues at the Gorton and Denton by-election to stand.
‘The headline claims were made public just minutes after the polls had closed,’ Stannard continued. ‘By contrast, it was 11 days before the observer’s specific claims were shared with us. If observers had concerns they should have raised them with polling station staff immediately. It is unfortunate that did not happen in this case.
Image: Element5 Digital / Unsplash
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