Overview
- Greater Manchester Police, which closed its inquiry Friday, reported no evidence of intent to influence or deter any voter in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
- Investigators said observers logged 32 instances of people sharing booths or looking over shoulders but did not allege instruction or force, which the Ballot Secrecy Act requires to prove an offence.
- With no identities or timings from observers, police said there was no reasonable line of inquiry, and limited CCTV offered no sign of direction or coercion.
- Manchester’s returning officer said the claims were not substantiated and that the contest’s integrity was intact.
- The Electoral Commission will discuss definitions and training with Democracy Volunteers, while Reform UK and Nigel Farage rejected the finding as a whitewash and the observer group defended its methodology.