What is family voting? Concerns raised during Gorton and Denton by-election
Election officials have said they are concerned people were forcing family members to vote in a certain way during the Gorton and Denton by-election.
After polls closed on Thursday night, an election observer group warned it had witnessed family voting in 68% of polling stations observed.
Democracy Volunteers’ intervention has caused consternation among the top three parties and threatens to overshadow the counting of votes.
They said in a statement: ‘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.
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‘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.’
What is family voting?
Family voting is an illegal practice where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting.
In 2023, the United Kingdom passed the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 to make family voting a criminal offence. The practice of family voting was made more clearly a breach of the secret ballot and enforceable by staff in polling stations.
Signs are often put up at polling stations reminding people against the practise.
But Democracy Volunteers said they spotted people undertaking this during the by-election this year.
What happened during the Gorton and Denton by-election?
The organisation said it attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending 30 to 45 minutes in each, and witnessed family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed.
The group said they observed a sample of 545 individuals casting their vote and saw 32 cases of family voting in total, including nine cases in one polling station.
Manchester City Council said that no issues had been reported and said it was ‘extremely disappointing’ that Democracy Volunteers waited until after the close of polls to make the claims.
A spokesperson for the acting returning officer at the by-election 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.’
John Ault, director of Democracy Volunteers, said the group had raised the matter at polling stations.
He told the Press Association: ‘It is a normal international standard not to issue a comment until after a voting has finished, another accepted aspect of election observation is that you are encouraged to ask questions of staff…
‘We posed questions about family voting in several polling stations and how staff dealt with it when it arose.’
How have the parties reacted to the claims?
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said the report was ‘extremely worrying and concerning,’ Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said it raised ‘questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas,’ and Green Party leader Zack Polanski suggested he would back a probe into the issue.
Labour chair Ms Turley told BBC Newsnight of the family voting concerns: ‘That’s not what we want to see in our democracy.
‘So obviously we need to see the evidence and the report, and then make due decision about what authorities should look into this.”
Mr Polanski told the programme: ‘If the recommendation is that there should be an inquiry or further steps then yes I’d support that.’
Reform UK’s candidate Matt Goodwin said he was ‘deeply concerned about the extent to which the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election is a free, fair, and democratic election’.
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