Today we have seen concerningly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton. Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10 year history of observing elections in the UK.
Democracy Volunteers deployed four accredited election observers across the Gorton and Denton Westminster Parliamentary By-election today. The team attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each.
The observers worked in pairs using the international standard for election observation – the four eyes principle. Each team assessed several aspects of the polling process, from accessibility to issues around the integrity of the vote.
Staff were welcoming to the team and we would like to thank them for their time in accommodating our work.
The team assessed two significant aspects of electoral integrity – family voting (where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting) which breaches the secret ballot. The team also assessed the impact of the requirement for voters to show ID before they are issued with a ballot paper.
2023 saw the enactment of the Ballot Secrecy Act, which made the practice of family voting more clearly a breach of the secret ballot, making it more enforceable by staff in polling stations. Signage is now available to discourage the practice. Signage was only seen in 45% of the polling stations observed.
The observer team saw family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed, some 32 cases in total, nine cases in one polling station alone. The team observed a sample of 545 voters casting their vote – meaning 12% of those voters observed either caused or were affected by family voting.
Commenting John Ault, Director of Democracy Volunteers said;
‘Today we have seen concerningly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton. Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10 year history of observing elections in the UK.’
‘We rarely issue a report on the night of an election, but the data we have collected today on family voting, when compared to other recent by-elections, is extremely high.’
‘In the other recent Westminster parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby we saw family voting in 12% of polling stations, affecting 1% of voters. In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting in 68% of polling stations, affecting 12% of those voters observed.’
The team also observed cases of voters being turned away, however, in each case this was due to them not being a registered voter for Westminster elections, such as having EU citizenship, and only being allowed to vote in local elections.
The team also saw a number of voters taking photographs of their ballot papers and one voter being authorised to vote despite them already having been marked as voted earlier in the day.
UPDATE – FRIDAY 27th MARCH 2026
Following the decision from Greater Manchester Police that there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute any individuals under the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023, in which the police appear to have not included two people in a polling booth together or oversight (which Democracy Volunteers adjudge as breaches of the secret ballot, and therefore ‘family voting’), Democracy Volunteers issued the following statement:
Our report reflects observations made in good faith by experienced and trained, independent and non-partisan observers on polling day. We used a robust methodology aligned with international observation standards and drew on extensive UK and international experience. The report was issued to support transparency in the electoral process. As a courtesy, we spoke to the Returning Officer before publication without sharing the report’s contents, and we issued the report independently in line with our role as observers.
Any decisions taken by the relevant authorities involve a different evidential threshold; we stand by our methodology and have offered to work constructively with Manchester City Council and others to support improvements going forward.
