Guidance

Security guidance for elections

This collection of guidance provides advice on good election security practice for candidates, political staff and local authority staff.

From:
Cabinet Office
Published
25 March 2021
Last updated
17 April 2024 — See all updates

Documents

Cyber Guidance for High-Risk Individuals

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/defending-democracy/guidance-for-high-risk-individuals

When it goes too far - Joint Police Guidance for candidates in elections (PDF, 470KB)

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-03/Joint%20Guidance%20for%20Candidates%20in%20Elections%202021_0.pdf

Social Media Security Information for Candidates

HTML

Election security for polling stations and counting venues (PDF)

PDF, 2.23 MB, 32 pages

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Election security for polling stations and counting venues (HTML)

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Details

For cyber security we recommend candidates and political staff read:

1. Defending Democracy – Cyber Security – a collection of National Cyber Security Centre material which brings together expanded guidance to raise awareness of the cyber threats to democratic processes, institutions, and the people involved in them.  

2. Cyber Guidance for High-Risk Individuals - advice from the National Cyber Security Centre on how individuals can protect their accounts and devices.

3. Guidance for Political Organisations - guidance outlining the cyber threat to UK political organisations and sets out measures to prevent successful attacks.   

4. Phishing Attacks – Defending your Organisation – Advice from the National Cyber Security Centre on protecting your organisation from email phishing attacks.

5. Social Media Security Information for Candidates  - guidance from social media platforms on how to secure your account and report incidents of online abuse.to secure your account and report incidents of online abuse.

For protective security we recommend candidates and political staff read:

6. Defending Democracy (npsa.gov.uk). - a collection of National Protective Security Authority material which brings together expanded guidance to raise awareness of protective security threats for those involved in elections. This includes guidance on insider risk, social engineering, and digital footprint. 

7. Protective Security Guidance for High-Risk Individuals - advice and guidance on how individuals can protect themselves, staff and family from a range of threats to personal safety and security. 

8. When it Goes too Far - Joint Police Guidance for Candidates in Elections - advice on recognising and responding to intimidatory behaviour.

9. The Blue Book: A Guide to Personal Security - advice from the National Counter Terrorism Security Office for how to stay safe at home, at work, on-the move and online.

10. Think Before You Link (TBYL) - an app developed by the National Protective Security Authority to help users of social media and professional networking sites better identify the hallmarks of fake profiles used by state and other malicious actors.

11. My Digital Footprint – guidance from the National Protective Security Authority on how individuals can be more mindful of their digital footprint

We recommend Returning Officers and local authority staff read:

1. Cyber Guidance for Organisations Coordinating Elections - advice for organisations involved in administering UK elections on good cyber security practices to protect systems and data. 

2. Protective Security Guidance for Organisations Coordinating Elections – state threats guidance from the National Protective Security . This can be accessed on gov.uk by anyone with a gov.uk email address or on the National Protective Security’s extranet. 

3. Guidance for Returning Officers - The  Electoral Commission’s guidance for Returning Officers split by countries of the United Kingdom, and type of election.

4. Election Security for Polling Stations and Counting Venues  - guidance to assist Returning Officers develop a security plan to avoid major disruption to the electoral process.

General Guidance for Candidates to Stand for Election

Departmental co-owners

Published 25 March 2021
Last updated 17 April 2024 + show all updates

  1. Added additional links in the For Protective Security we recommend candidates and political staff read section.

  2. Updated with the new version of: Election security for polling stations and counting venues

  3. Updated to correct an issue with the document: Election security for polling stations and counting venues

  4. Updated the guidance with the most up to date information and links to external guidance.

  5. Added a new section called: Guidance for candidates on submitting nomination papers

  6. Added the following document: Election security for polling stations and counting venues

  7. Updated the document: Online security information for candidates to include a section on TikTok

  8. The Electoral Commission has updated its core guidance for Returning Officers to support the delivery of the May 2022 polls.

  9. First published.

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