Electoral Commission fears increase in electoral fraud in 2010

There is a heightened risk of electoral malpractice in the 2010 general and local government elections, the Electoral Commission has warned.

Reporting on last year’s local authority and European Parliament elections, the Commission revealed that there were 48 cases of alleged electoral malpractice. Of these cases, one resulted in prosecution while a further 17 are awaiting advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.

No case was shown to have affected the outcome of the election in question, and no election had to be re-run as a result of the malpractice. The vast majority of alleged cases also involve a single allegation against a single individual.

But the Commission warned that the elections in 2010 would be more challenging, with local elections in all London boroughs and the large metropolitan borough authorities – “historically….the areas where the most significant allegations and cases of electoral malpractice have originated”.

It suggested that the high number of MPs retiring at the election could lead to closely fought contests, adding that: “the high-profile nature of a general election campaign and the likelihood that many candidates and their election agents will have very little experience or knowledge of electoral law may lead to controversies and publicity for allegations which would otherwise have remained more locally contained.”

The Commission made a number of recommendations for this year’s elections. These include:

• Returning officers (ROs) and electoral registration officers (EROs) must ensure they have developed and put in place formal, documented plans for identifying and dealing with allegations of electoral malpractice – many have yet to do this, the Commission claimed;
• Police forces should ensure that a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for allegations of malpractice is identified and supported in order to establish and maintain effective relationships with EROs and ROs, and in particular to support a joint risk assessment.

The Commission called on the Ministry of Justice to make the checking of all postal ballots mandatory and provide the funding to make it possible.

It pointed to a survey that showing that 27% of respondents were either fairly or very concerned about electoral fraud when asked specifically about the 2009 elections.

Describing the low number of cases – compared to the votes cast – in 2009 as “encouraging”, Jenny Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission, said: “This year is going to be an important one for voters with a general election and English local elections. No-one involved in elections should be complacent and we will continue to work with returning officers and the police to prevent fraud. Electoral fraud is a crime and we congratulate the police for continuing to address it seriously. Their vigilance is essential for people to have confidence in the democratic process."

Watson said the Electoral Commission had improved networks and guidance for police officers on electoral malpractice offences and produced clear performance standards for EROs and ROs.

She called on political parties to ensure their staff and volunteers follow the Commission’s guidance, for example by not completing postal vote applications or ballots for voters.