Democracy Volunteers deployed observers across the Netherlands for the parliamentary elections in October. Deploying 32 observers and experts, 25 of whom were based in the European Netherlands and the other 7 on the BES islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.
Democracy Volunteers has now observed in The Netherlands on 8 separate occasions, deploying 99 observers, across 63 of the 345 municipalities and special municipalities, attending 619 polling stations, observing 19,833 voters casting their votes. We have spent 308 hours in Dutch polling stations. On average we have spent 47 minutes in each polling station during these 8 observations.
As with many European developed democracies, we continue to identify issues that resist elections authorities’ attempts to improve elections. These focus around so-called ‘family voting’ in The Netherlands, but also, significantly, in relation to on-demand proxy voting, where one person can sign their ‘Stempas’ on election day and another person can cast their vote in person for them.
Democracy Volunteers observed the electoral process in 204 Westminster parliamentary constituencies across the UK. The organisation deployed two or more observers to each constituency. In total, the number of observers, experts and support staff was over 200 at this election.
As part of Democracy Volunteers’ election observation for the 2025 English Local Elections, held on May 1st, the team worked with students from Manchester University to assess the impact on local election candidates because of the threats they receive.
Our team wrote to over 2,000 candidates, across parties, to see...
Democracy Volunteers has released the report on the 2025 English local elections, held on May 1st. The team deployed observers across every area in England holding elections, with the exception of the Isles of Scilly.
The team once again observed several challenges to the voting process and have made a number...
This year, Democracy Volunteers celebrates a decade of independent election observation. Since our founding in 2015, we have grown to become Western Europe’s leading election observation organisation, working at home and abroad to improve the quality of elections and to strengthen public confidence in the democratic process.
Democracy Volunteers celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025, marking a decade of independent election observation. Since our founding in 2015, the organisation has monitored more than 200,000 voters across 13,000 polling stations and influenced reforms such as the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023.
In September 2025, Democracy Volunteers deployed an international observation mission to assess the conduct of Norway’s Parliamentary Elections. A team of 24 trained observers independently monitored voting and counting...
The UK’s overseas postal voting system is failing — extended enfranchisement without operational capacity has created a perfect storm of lost ballots, tight timetables and systemic disenfranchisement.
Democracy Volunteers has today described Finland’s municipal and county elections as “extremely well-run,” citing high standards in the running of polling stations and good accessibility across polling stations.
Democracy Volunteers has links to many international observer groups, which it tries to support and cooperate with to help improve election observation and also to support those where election...
Italy does not allow domestic election observation, leading to concerns about transparency and public oversight in one of the European Union’s founding democracies.
Democracy Volunteers Director, Dr John Ault said:...
Democracy Volunteers was represented at the Canadian Vote Summit 2025 by our Director, Dr John Ault, who attended the event in Montreal from 20–21 May. Organised by the Canadian-based...
The team at Democracy Volunteers has today condemned the Russian government for imprisoning Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the Russian election observation group GOLOS, to five years...
From Kent in the South East to Lancashire in the North West and from Northumberland in the North East to Cornwall in the South West, Democracy Volunteers deployed election...
On April 13th, Democracy Volunteers deployed 16 observers across Finland for the municipal and county elections. The team visited the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Rauma, Turku, Pori, Kotka, Tampere...
A small group of Democracy Volunteers’ election observers deployed to the German
Bundestag elections on Sunday 23 rd February, focusing their work on the elections in Berlin.
The team attended several...
The presidential and congressional elections of 2024 were no different were an important election for Democracy Volunteers to observe. The election was highly contentious and saw the return of...