Treating in the United Kingdom

An example of treating shown in William Hogarth's Canvassing for Votes (1755) (see Humours of an Election)
George Bingam's "The County Election" (1852) shows the effects of the campaigns' "treating" the voters with alcoholic beverages: several of them are too drunk to stand without assistance.

Treating is an electoral fraud criminal offence in the United Kingdom. Treating occurs when an election candidate or their agents offer material incentives for people to vote for them or to abstain from voting. It is a triable either way offence with the sentence being up to either an unlimited fine, one year imprisonment or both.[1]

  1. ^ "Electoral Law Regulation" (PDF). Law Commission. Retrieved 18 April 2019.