Former Reform UK parliamentary candidate Matt Goodwin has called for police officers to be stationed at every polling station in the country to stop illegal "family voting", warning that British democracy is being hijacked by sectarianism.
Goodwin's demand follows reports that Birmingham City Council staff witnessed attempts to circumvent the secret ballot at 50 polling stations during local elections in May.
Goodwin, who stood in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, said it became "blatantly obvious" during his campaign that "dark and sinister forces were at work".
He said he and his colleagues saw husbands and fathers instructing their wives and adult children on how to vote, warning that entire areas of the UK risk falling under the influence of religious and clan networks.
Secret ballot breaches in Birmingham
Electoral officers in Birmingham had to repeatedly remind voters that it is against the law to enter a booth with a relative and tell them how to vote, according to a Daily Mail report published yesterday.
Witnesses saw one man trying to influence voting through "Islamic gestures, blinking eyes, hand signals", while another clutched "all the poll cards" for his family and advised each member on how to cast their ballot.
Under the 2023 Ballot Secrecy Act, it is illegal for voters to collude, confer or advise each other on voting.
Goodwin said the revelations in Birmingham came as no shock, adding that they mirrored the illegal practices he warned about six months ago in Greater Manchester.
He said he campaigned door-to-door under the "menacing gaze of groups of mainly young Muslim men", amid rumours of underhand deals between political parties and community elders.
Voter intimidation in Greater Manchester
"Far more disturbing was what my colleagues and I witnessed at the polling stations," Goodwin said. "I'm talking about husbands and fathers standing by voting booths, instructing their wives and adult children exactly where to put their mark on the ballot paper. In many cases these coercive patriarchs might as well have had the pen in their own hands."
After the polls closed in February, it emerged that family voting had occurred in 68 per cent of polling stations in the Gorton and Denton constituency.
Goodwin said his early warnings were ignored and his attempts to "red-flag the insidious creep of these unlawful voting practices" were dismissed as sour grapes. He finished second in the by-election to Hannah Spencer, who is now the constituency's Green Party MP.
"What is going on is nothing less than an assault on, not just our democracy, but Britain itself," Goodwin said. "We are facing a major problem in this country, one which threatens to strike at the heart of everything we hold dear. It's time to wake up and act."
He added that his "urgent clarion call" is shared by independent observers who have monitored recent ballots.
Independent election observers
The independent election observer group Democracy Volunteers reported witnessing 291 potential breaches of the secret ballot across the UK during the May elections.
During the February by-election, the impartial group recorded the highest amount of family voting in its ten-year history. Observers noted the practice at 15 of the 22 polling stations they monitored in Gorton and Denton, and were so alarmed they took the rare step of publishing their findings as soon as the polls closed.
Greater Manchester Police took no action following the February vote, stating it had found "no evidence" of the law being broken.
However, the force has since launched an investigation into alleged offences during the May local elections in Tameside, a Manchester metropolitan borough, amid concerns about how candidates were put forward and represented in the ward. Six arrests have been made in connection with the inquiry.
Goodwin said the fact that Democracy Volunteers raised the alarm and police have made arrests is evidence of a national crisis.
Proposed restrictions on postal voting
Goodwin argued that it is no longer plausible to deny that British democracy is being hijacked by sectarianism, with voters in some areas putting their allegiance to a religion, tribe or clan ahead of their loyalty to the country.
He noted that in ten of the 14 wards in Gorton and Denton, more than one in five people was born overseas, while in the Longsight area, nearly half the population is foreign-born. While canvassing in the constituency, he said he walked along streets where no one spoke English and where residents did not match official records.
"Community pressures, and the spectre of family voting, in these areas were plain to see," he said, adding that "you can bet" elections in Bradford, Oldham, Blackburn and London are also being rigged along sectarian lines.
To safeguard the democratic process, Goodwin urged the government to dramatically restrict postal voting, a system opened up by Tony Blair in 2001. Goodwin claimed Blair expanded the system in the "cynical belief" that it would garner more votes for Labour, ignoring warnings from a High Court judge that it was "wide open to fraud".
Goodwin said postal voting allows minority communities to engage in block voting away from independent observers, and argued it should be restricted to military personnel serving abroad and people physically unable to reach a polling station.
Commonwealth voting rights
He also called for an end to Commonwealth voting rights, describing the current system as "absurd". According to the Office for National Statistics, 1.7 million non-British citizens from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and India are registered to vote in UK elections.
Finally, Goodwin said it saddens him to say it, but police officers and independent observers must stand in every polling station to prevent what occurred in Birmingham and Manchester from happening again.
"We need political leaders in Westminster to stamp this out now; to defend our ancient liberties and keep a grip on one of the great pillars of our national life," he said. "British democracy is a cherished part of who we are. It's time to push back before it's too late."
