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, is when one person directs another's vote (direction), two people enter a polling booth together (collusion) or one oversees the behaviour of another so that they know their voting choice (oversight). All three of these are a breach of the secret ballot. Democracy Volunteers has used this standard for several years.
What is the secret ballot? Introduced in 1872, the secret ballot removed the public declaration of a voter's intention. Previously, voters were required to announce or evidence by showing through hands, who they were supporting. As a consequence of open voting, men who rented their homes, or relied on a local employer for work, had to vote as the property owner or employer wished them to vote (The Gazette).
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...
'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.' (Dr. John Ault)
This year, Democracy Volunteers celebrates a decade of independent election observation. Since our founding in 2015, we have grown to become Western Europe’s leading election observation organisation, working at home and abroad to improve the quality of elections and to strengthen public confidence in the democratic process.
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.
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...
The main challenge to observation was the incapacity to deploy any of our observers to the United States in person. This meant we had to readjust our usual methods...
13 observers were registered by Democracy Volunteers with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (DHPLG) and local Returning Officers (ROs). They were divided into teams of 2...
198 observers registered by Democracy Volunteers with the Electoral Commission, as well as three observers who directly accredited themselves with the Commission, made up in teams of 2, made...
The mission deployed in two waves: a core team was located in Gibraltar for one week around the election and two short term observers deployed primarily for polling day...
Democracy Volunteers has today conducted polling station observations across the UK. Given the high level of interest in the election, Democracy Volunteers accredited and deployed a team of 200...
Democracy Volunteers deployed two teams to observe the national elections to the European Parliament in the UK and The Netherlands. A third team was deployed to the same elections...
A team of 26 observers registered with, and accredited by, the UK’s Electoral Commission made 320 separate observations across the 1,463 different polling stations (ballot boxes) in Northern Ireland....
The mission deployed in two waves: a core team for up to ten days and the rest of the short-term observers for the weekend of the election. The mission...
Democracy Volunteers deployed teams across the four councils conducting Voter ID Pilots on May 2nd. Teams of observers were deployed to Derby, Pendle, Mid-Sussex and Woking. The selection of...
The mission deployed 6 observers in three teams of two. These were registered with The Netherlands’s Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. These six observers were accredited to...
A team of 6 observers registered with, and accredited by, the UK’s Electoral Commission made 45 separate observations across the 55 different polling stations in the Newport West Parliamentary...