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 areas of observation were:
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Cornwall
- County Durham
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Doncaster
- Gloucestershire
- Hertfordshire
- Hull and East Riding
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- North Northamptonshire
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Warwickshire
- West of England
- West Northamptonshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
The team once again observed several challenges to the voting process and have made a number of recommendations to the UK’s Electoral Commission and the UK Government. They focus on the continuing challenges of ‘family voting’ in the UK, some problems with the requirement to show ID at polling stations and also with some of the less prominent issues around postal voting.
On the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 and Family Voting
- Now that the Ballot Secrecy Act has passed into law, we would encourage councils to add it to their training regime for presiding officers and polling clerks and to ensure that the new signage available is displayed in every polling station in every polling booth.
On Voter ID Requirements
- Valid forms of ID should be extended to include those issued by trusted organisations as well as more formal IDs that are presently acceptable.
- ID checks should only be conducted when the elector is greeted by the presiding officer at their desk, as their name is taken compared to the electoral register.
- Consider the introduction of ‘attestation’ as a form of acceptable ID.
On Postal Voting and Overseas Electors
- To assess the number of postal votes returned both incorrectly and/or late should be reported so that the scale of the problem can be identified. (We understand this may already be done, but this information is not presently available in the public domain).
- In other countries, late postal votes can be counted if they are clearly postmarked within the time that would mean they should have arrived based on the post office’s own delivery estimates. This should be considered.
- Research other methods of overseas voters being able to vote in time. Postal voting may be less challenging in local elections, as they are known well in advance, but in a snap general election this can lead to many voters not having their vote counted. Other forms of in-person voting should be considered for those living abroad.
- The Electoral Commission, The UK Government, devolved governments and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office should pilot in-person voting at embassies and constituencies across the world at forthcoming local and devolved elections, with a view to in-person voting being available at the next UK General Election.
Commenting on the report, Democracy Volunteers’ Director, Dr John Ault said: ‘Once again, our observers have shown some of the challenges that we face in the UK with the electoral process. We continue to see family voting and we would urge councils to use the new signage that is available in all polling booths, so that voters know it breaks the secrecy of the ballot.’
‘We have also heard about a lot of challenges with the postal voting system, some of which are systemic and others which are simply unacceptable. We would urge an immediate reassessment about the process by which postal voting functions, not simply because of the challenges it presents for the secrecy of the ballot, but because voters simply have no idea when they may get their ballot, especially if they are overseas, let alone if it has been received by the relevant local authority and then counted.’
You can read the full report below, or listen to our Director John Ault on the Observations Podcast to find out more.
