What Is Family Voting: what is family voting at the Gorton and Denton by-election

what is family voting has been raised as a central question after Nigel Farage reported allegations of family voting at the Gorton and Denton by-election to Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission. The dispute follows claims from independent election observers that there were extremely high levels of family voting during the contest.

What Is Family Voting

Observers and party figures have offered related definitions: family voting can be where a family member is seen to be influencing somebody else's vote, for example by entering the polling booth with them, and it can involve two voters using one polling booth and potentially directing each other on voting. Democracy Volunteers described it as where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting, a practice made illegal under the 2023 Ballot Secrecy Act.

Observers' findings and the numbers

Democracy Volunteers said it deployed four accredited election observers across the constituency and attended 22 of the 45 polling stations while polls were open, working in pairs and spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each. The team observed a sample of 545 voters casting their votes and said 12% either directed or were affected by family voting. The organisation reported 32 instances in total and said it saw family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations it was at across the constituency, with nine cases at one polling station.

Method, context and signage

Democracy Volunteers, founded by Dr John Ault and supported by the Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, said signage to discourage family voting was only seen in 45% of the polling stations they observed. 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: "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 byelections, is extremely high. "

Police, council and party reactions

Nigel Farage has urged an investigation after making the allegations to Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission. he said: "Reform has today reported the many cases of 'family voting' to the Electoral Commission and the police. What was witnessed yesterday is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas. If this is what was happening at polling stations just imagine the potential for coercion with postal votes. If action isn't taken now, then we will ensure it is after the next general election. "

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "We can confirm a report has been made. We are in the process of reviewing this report and will provide a further update in due course. " 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.

Electoral outcome and party statements

Reform UK were beaten into second place by the Green Party by more than 4, 000 votes, and Reform's candidate Matt Goodwin finished second in the by-election held on Thursday behind the Green Party's Hannah Spencer, who won by more than 4, 400 votes. The Green Party rejected the criticisms, with a spokesman saying: "This is an attempt to undermine the democratic result and is straight out of the Trump playbook. We've just won a historic by-election by a comfortable margin. We've shown the country that Greens can beat Reform, despite their big business donations. "

The Conservative Party, which came a distant fourth in the by-election, have also written to the Electoral Commission to ask for a full investigation into the Democracy Volunteers' allegations. 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. " The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, said he would back an investigation: "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, " he said. The Reform UK chair, David Bull, said: "electoral fraud is a stain on democracy. We would support reporting it and making sure that it’s done in the spirit and fairness with the law. "

Comparisons and other observations

Democracy Volunteers compared Gorton and Denton with another recent Westminster parliamentary byelection in Runcorn and Helsby, saying Runcorn and Helsby saw family voting in 12% of polling stations, affecting 1% of voters, while in Gorton and Denton they observed family voting in 68% of polling stations, affecting 12% of those voters observed. The volunteers also noted cases of voters being turned away for not being registered to vote in Westminster elections—for example if they had EU citizenship and were eligible to vote only in local elections—reported seeing voters taking photographs of their ballot papers, and one person being authorised to vote despite them already

Starmer says he will fight on after by-election defeat to Greens. Chris Mason described the by-election as prompting soul searching within Labour and questions for Starmer. Sir John Curtice said the future of British politics is more uncertain than ever.

As the police review the report and parties press for further action, the debate over what is family voting and how it should be policed is likely to continue.