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.
These observers generally formed teams of two, sometimes three, and attended 1,173 polling stations, across these constituencies. (A full list of these constituencies can be seen on page 9).
Democracy Volunteers’ observers spent between 30 and 45 minutes at each polling venue observing the voting process and then completed an online survey, regarding the integrity of the electoral process, for each polling station.
The team of observers observed a total of 20,289 voters, in the process of those observations.
As well as our normal observations in polling stations we also assessed other aspects of the voting process, including the process of voter registration, the challenges of postal voting, and the media and social media landscape in the UK, as well as assessing some of the impacts of personal and political social media, verbal and physical attacks on candidates during the election campaign.
The Requirement to show ID in polling stations
However, the requirement to show photographic ID has been in place in Northern Ireland for several years, ahead of the rest of the UK. In Northern Ireland, observers saw only 7 voters turned away out of 2085. As such, within Great Britain, 255 voters were turned away out of 18,622, this meant 1.37% of voters were turned away in England, Scotland and Wales. 28,805,931 people voted on July 4th and whilst it is not scientific, and with this appropriate caveat, if 1.37% of voters were those excluded across the UK, this would mean that over 370,000 people might have been turned away due to lacking useable ID.
However, we also asked our observers to assess different aspects of those voters being excluded. As we evaluated, even with a large-scale observation, the capacity to see large-scale exclusions was relatively low.
Family Voting
As in both the local elections in 2023 and 2024, as well as the parliamentary by-elections in the same period, we again asked our observers to report broad ethnicity descriptions for those turned away. To classify, we used the phrases “white passing” and “non-white passing” to see if there was evidence of this policy being more impactful on voters from ethnic minorities. Our observers saw voters turned away in 17% of all polling stations.
Our observers discovered those excluded because they lacked the appropriate ID in the polling station were: 20.2% “white passing” males, 21.0% “non-white passing” males, 32.5% “white passing” females, 26.2% “non-white passing” females.
Our team saw family voting in 21% of all the polling stations that we observed. Across this election, the spread was: Clear direction 25.6%, General Oversight 33.3%, Collusion 35.6%, Other 5.6%
So-called “family voting” continues to be widespread in UK elections. In total, 3.5% of all the 20,289 voters we observed voting at these elections were either causing, or were affected by, Family Voting, some 706 people. Family Voting continues to be widespread in the UK. This compares to 4.3% in the 2023 local elections and 4.7% in the 2024 local elections and 5.5% in the 2023/24 parliamentary by-elections. It appears to be slightly lower than in the normal round of local elections. This is, however, the lowest percentage of family voting Democracy Volunteers has seen in recent elections. This could be an indication that the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 is having some effect, but more evidence needs to be collected to evaluate this. We observed family voting in 116 of the 204 constituencies we visited, they were:
Aberdeen North, Banbury, Bangor Aberconwy, Barking, Battersea, Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Mid Down, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Bethnal Green and Stepney, Birmingham Northfield, Birmingham Yardley, Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, Bolton North East, Bolton South and Walkden, Bracknell, Brent East, Brent West, Brentford and Isleworth, Bristol Central, Bristol North East, Bristol North West, Bury North, Bury South, Camborne and Redruth, Cardiff North, Cardiff South and Penarth, Ceredigion Preseli, Chelsea and Fulham, Chesham and Amersham, Cities of London and Westminster, Clacton, Clapham and Brixton Hill, Clwyd North, Derbyshire Dales, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, East Antrim, East Ham, East Kilbride and Strathaven, Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, Eltham and Chislehurst, Esher and Walton, Feltham and Heston, Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Finchley and Golders Green, Godalming and Ash, Greenwich and Woolwich, Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Hammersmith and Chiswick, Harrow West, Harwich and North Essex, Hayes and Harlington, Hitchin, Honiton and Sidmouth, Hove and Portslade, Isle of Wight East, Isle of Wight West, Islington North, Islington South and Finsbury, Keighley and Ilkley, Kensington and Bayswater, Kingston and Surbiton, Lewisham North, Lewisham West and East Dulwich, Leyton and Wanstead, Manchester Central, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, Mid Dunbartonshire, Mitcham and Morden, Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, Newport East, Newport West and Islwyn, North Down, Norwich North, Oldham East and Saddleworth, Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, Pontypridd, Poplar and Limehouse, Putney, Queen’s Park and Maida Vale, Reading Central, Reigate, Richmond Park, Rochdale, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, Runnymede and Weybridge, Shipley, Slough, South Antrim, South Down, South Norfolk, St Ives, Stirling and Strathallan, Strangford, Streatham and Croydon North, Sunderland Central, Sutton and Cheam, Swindon North, Swindon South, Truro and Falmouth, Upper Bann, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, Walthamstow, Warrington South, Welwyn Hatfield, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, West Ham and Beckton, West Tyrone, Wimbledon, Windsor, Woking, Worsley and Eccles, Wycombe, and Ynys Môn.
The full list of findings can be found in the report below, looking at threats to candidates, postal voting, voter registration and the media during the election.
Shame you don’t supply a PDF, so it can be searched.
Hi Aimee, it’s at the bottom as a PDF in the flow book and can be downloaded.
Found it, thanks.