Family Voting flagged after observers find 32 apparent collusion cases in Gorton and Denton byelection

Democracy Volunteers said it observed 32 cases of apparent collusion in the Gorton and Denton byelection, calling the behaviour "family voting" and describing it as the highest level seen in the organisation’s 10-year history — a finding that has prompted calls from political figures for further scrutiny.

Observers recorded instances across nearly half of stations checked

The group, founded by Dr John Ault and supported by Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, deployed four accredited election observers across the constituency. The team attended 22 of the 45 polling stations while polls were open, spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each station and working in pairs. Observers said they saw family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations they visited, with nine cases recorded in one polling station alone.

Sample of voters shows 12% affected by family voting

Democracy Volunteers said its observers sampled 545 voters casting their votes and concluded that 12% of those voters either directed or were affected by family voting. The organisation contrasted the findings with a recent Westminster parliamentary byelection in Runcorn and Helsby, where it said family voting occurred in 12% of polling stations and affected 1% of voters; in Gorton and Denton it said family voting occurred in 68% of polling stations observed, affecting 12% of those voters observed.

Family voting and the Ballot Secrecy Act

The observers said they were looking for people who appeared to collude on votes in breach of secret ballot rules — a practice the group called "family voting" — and were also assessing the impact of the requirement for voters to show ID before being issued with a ballot paper. Democracy Volunteers noted that the enactment of the Ballot Secrecy Act in 2023 made family voting a clearer breach of the secret ballot, but said signage discouraging the practice was only visible in 45% of the polling stations they observed.

Council training, party reactions and other irregularities noted

Manchester city council said its staff had been trained to look for evidence of voter interference and that no concerns had been reported or raised with them while polls were open. Labour described the reports as "extremely worrying and concerning"; Anna Turley, the Labour party chair, said, "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. "

Green party leader Zack Polanski said he would back an investigation, saying, "I think it’s important that there’s full transparency about the democratic process, and if the recommendation is that there should be an inquiry or further steps then yes I’d support that. " Reform UK chair David Bull called the issue a stain on democracy, saying, "electoral fraud is a stain on democracy" and, "We would support reporting it and making sure that it’s done in the spirit and fairness with the law. "

Turned-away voters, photos of ballots and one unclear authorisation

Volunteers also observed cases of voters being turned away; they said every such case they saw was because the person was not registered to vote in Westminster elections — for example, if they had EU citizenship and were eligible to vote only in local elections. The observers reported seeing voters taking photographs of their ballot papers, and one person being authorised to vote despite them already — unclear in the provided context.

Democracy Volunteers’ director, Dr John Ault, 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 that the organisation rarely issues a report on the night of an election but that the data collected that day, when compared to other recent byelections, was "extremely high. "

Officials and parties have said they will review the evidence and the observers’ forthcoming report; the next confirmed step is for Democracy Volunteers to publish its findings and for authorities to examine the organisation’s evidence as they decide whether any formal inquiry or action is required.