Question

To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has issued guidance to Returning Officers on whether election observers can raise points of concern on the conduct of an election when inside a polling station.

The Commission’s guidance for Returning Officers notes that they have a legal duty to have regard to the Code of Practice for observers when managing the attendance of observers at polling stations. The Code states that observers may bring irregularities, fraud or significant problems to the attention of election officials on the spot, unless this would contravene the secrecy requirements, and must do so in a non-obstructive manner.