John Ault
John Ault is the Director of Democracy Volunteers. John has worked in elections throughout the UK, Europe, and the United States since the 1980s. He has observed on behalf of the OSCE/ODIHR and the UK Parliament’s Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in parliamentary elections as wide-ranging as Kazakhstan and the Isle of Man. He is a former chair of the UK’s Electoral Reform Society and has previously been elected to local government and the UK’s South-West Regional Assembly.
June 10, 2022
International Observations, Netherlands
FINAL REPORT – Netherlands Municipal Elections 2022
The March 2022 deployment was the fourth deployment of Democracy Volunteers observers to The Netherlands. Our experience of observing in the country has led us to assess two aspects...
May 27, 2022
Domestic Observations, England
FINAL REPORT – English Mayoral Elections 2022
Our team of observers saw several challenges to the electoral process, once again these focused around the challenge of family voting, where more than one person attempts to vote...
May 24, 2022
Domestic Observations, Northern Ireland
FINAL REPORT – Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022
Democracy Volunteers deployed 32 observers across Northern Ireland on 5th May 2022. These observers formed teams of two and attended 436 of the 1345 polling places (32.4%). Observers spent...
January 31, 2022
Denmark, International Observations
FINAL REPORT Denmark Kommune and Regional Elections 16/11/21
Democracy Volunteers director, Dr John Ault, has called on the Danish Government to urgently reconsider its lack of legislation concerning election observation and introduce a formal process for accrediting...
August 31, 2021
Gibraltar, International Observations
FINAL REPORT – Gibraltar Referendum (Reproductive Rights) 2021
The referendum was very well run by staff and additional COVID-19 precautions were handled especially well. The observation team were impressed by the conduct of staff throughout polling day,...
August 27, 2021
England
Democracy Under Stress: A report into elections funding in England
As part of our work in 2021 we have been increasingly aware of the mounting costs that elections incur, whether this has been through our interlocutor meetings, media reports...
August 17, 2021
Domestic Observations, England
FINAL REPORT – The English Regional Mayoralties
These elections were very well run by staff who were faced by an extraordinary situation. The Covid security put in place for the elections was impressive and generally followed...
July 13, 2021
Domestic Observations, England
SPECIAL ELECTION REPORT – Blind and Partially Sighted Voters in London
Blind and Partially Sighted Voters continue to face extensive challenges in aspects of voter registration, polling day operations and having equal access to a secret ballot as other voters....