Observers report high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton by election

Accredited election observers have reported what they describe as unusually high levels of family voting during the Gorton and Denton Westminster Parliamentary by election.

Democracy Volunteers deployed four accredited observers across the Gorton and Denton constituency on polling day. The team visited 22 of the 45 polling stations, spending between 30 and 45 minutes at each location.

Observers worked in pairs using what the organisation describes as the four eyes principle, an international standard for election observation. They assessed issues including accessibility, voter identification requirements and compliance with the secrecy of the ballot.

The group said staff at polling stations were welcoming and cooperative during the visits.

A key focus of the monitoring was family voting, where two voters confer, collude or direct one another while casting a ballot. The practice breaches the principle of the secret ballot. The Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 clarified that family voting is a breach of electoral law and strengthened the ability of polling station staff to intervene. Official signage is available to discourage the practice.

Observers reported seeing signage relating to ballot secrecy in 45 per cent of the polling stations they attended.

According to Democracy Volunteers, family voting was witnessed in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed, amounting to 32 individual cases. In one polling station, nine instances were recorded. The team observed 545 voters casting their ballots and said that 12 per cent of those voters either caused or were affected by family voting.

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."

He added, "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."

The organisation compared its findings with another recent Westminster parliamentary by election in Runcorn and Helsby. It said family voting was observed in 12 per cent of polling stations there, affecting one per cent of voters observed, compared with 68 per cent of polling stations and 12 per cent of voters in Gorton and Denton.

Observers also reported cases of voters being turned away. In each instance, Democracy Volunteers said this was because the individual was not registered to vote in a Westminster parliamentary election, for example due to EU citizenship status.

The team said it also saw several voters taking photographs of their ballot papers and one case where a voter was authorised to vote despite already being marked as having voted earlier in the day.

A spokesperson for the Acting Returning Officer at Manchester City Council said, "Polling station staff are trained to look out for any evidence of undue influence on voters. No such issues have been reported today.

"If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about alleged issues they could and should have raised them with us during polling hours so that immediate action could be taken. We have operated a central by election hub which was has been rapidly responding to reported issues during the day, in liaison with the police who had a presence at every polling station where necessary.

"It is extremely disappointing that Democracy Volunteers have waited until after polls have closed to make such claims."