Democracy Volunteers has deployed observers across Great Britain for the largest election observation since the 2024 UK General Election.
In teams of two, using the internationally accepted standard of the ‘four-eyes method’, teams are deployed from 7am to 10pm to polling stations to observe the process. The teams answer up to 64 questions on different aspects of the voting process from disability access to political activity at polling stations.
Democracy Volunteers have informed all those councils across Scotland, Wales and England that observers may be in their area, following the recent changes made to the code of practice issued by the Electoral Commission.
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 been observing elections in the UK for 10 years. We have seen ‘family voting’ across the UK and we think it is important to explain more about it and how it should be possible to limit or prevent it.
‘Family voting’, as it is generally called internationally,...
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.
Our director Dr John Ault has backed the international call to action on election observation. On the 29th of April, within the framework of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, the conference (Towards Trusted and Inclusive Electoral Processes: The Role of Observers) called on the Council of Europe’s member...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
This project comes at a critical and challenging time not only for elections and elections staff but for wider society, as restrictions on citizens' freedoms are in place to...