Council chief executive and Returning Officer for the Gorton and Denton by-election responds following a GMP investigation into alleged illegal voting.
Tom Stannard said:
“We welcome the conclusion of Greater Manchester Police’s investigation into claims of illegal ‘family voting’ in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Our elections team have also scrutinised the details of observers’ claims, cross-referencing them against our records from individual polling stations.
“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. This is supported by the findings of GMP’s investigation.
“We reiterate that all of our polling station staff are comprehensively trained to look out for any signs of undue influence on voters and can, and do, intervene wherever necessary.
“We remain alive to all potential issues that could impact electoral integrity. Polling station staff preparing for the forthcoming local elections will again be trained on what to look out for to ensure best practice. But we cannot allow the inaccurate impression that there were significant issues at the Gorton and Denton by-election to stand.
“The headline claims were made public just minutes after the polls had closed. 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. The fact that the Electoral Commission, in their newly-updated guidance for electoral observers, have made explicit that potential issues should be raised on the spot is very welcome. So too is the guidance that observers should base all conclusions on factual and verifiable evidence and not draw conclusions prematurely."