What Is Family Voting: Observers Allege High Levels at Gorton and Denton By-election
Fresh scrutiny of voting at the Gorton and Denton by-election has focused attention on what is family voting and whether it undermined ballot secrecy. Independent election observers say they recorded unusually high levels of voters being influenced by family members inside or near polling booths, prompting complaints to police and the elections regulator and sparking cross-party demands for a formal review.
What Is Family Voting — definition and observer findings
The term what is family voting refers to the practice of a family member influencing another person's vote, for example by entering the polling booth with them or directing how they should vote. Democracy Volunteers, an accredited domestic election observation organisation founded by Dr John Ault and supported by the Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, released an assessment that it had seen concerningly high levels of this behaviour.
Observers’ methodology and the scale of claims
Democracy Volunteers deployed four accredited election observers across the constituency. The team attended 22 of the 45 polling stations while polls were open, working in pairs and spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each station. From a sample of 545 voters they observed, the organisation recorded 32 cases it described as apparent collusion; 9 of those cases occurred in one polling station. Overall they said family voting was seen in 15 of the 22 polling stations they observed, equating to 68% of those stations, and affecting 12% of the voters in their sample.
Official responses and formal referrals
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has taken the observers' claims to Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission and urged a full inquiry. The party finished second to the Green Party by more than 4, 000 votes at the by-election, and Farage characterised the conduct he flagged as a victory for sectarian voting and cheating, urging the elections regulator to work with police with a view to prosecutions and to assess whether irregularities could call the result into question.
The Electoral Commission said it was taking the claims very seriously and would carefully consider the report, and that it was in close contact with the returning officer and Greater Manchester Police to review the concerns and available information. Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a report had been made and said it was reviewing that report and would provide a further update in due course.
Reactions from parties and local authorities
The Green Party defended the result, with a spokesman warning that the complaints risked undermining the democratic outcome and describing the challenge as straight out of the Trump playbook; the spokesman also framed the win as a historic and comfortable margin and emphasised that the Greens had shown they could beat Reform UK. The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, said he would support a full investigation. The Labour party chair, Anna Turley, described the reports as extremely worrying and said evidence and the observers' report needed to be examined before deciding on next steps. Reform UK’s chair, David Bull, called electoral fraud a stain on democracy and said his party would support reporting and ensuring investigations are carried out lawfully and fairly.
Context on observers and voting safeguards
Democracy Volunteers describes itself as a non-partisan election observation organisation and is one of several observer groups accredited by the elections regulator. Observers in the UK are entitled to attend polling stations and counts and must state they will abide by a code of practice requiring political impartiality; their accreditation can be revoked if they do not maintain that impartiality. Democracy Volunteers noted that the Ballot Secrecy Act enacted in 2023 made family voting a clearer breach of the secret ballot and said signage discouraging the practice was present in only 45% of the polling stations they observed.
Other on-the-ground issues noted and outstanding items
The observers also reported instances of voters being turned away because they were not registered to vote in Westminster elections—for example, voters with EU citizenship only eligible in local contests—and they noted cases of voters photographing their ballot papers. They further referenced one person being authorised to vote despite them already—unclear in the provided context. Manchester city council said its staff had been trained to look for evidence of voter interference and that no concerns were reported to council staff while polls were open.
What happens next
With formal reports lodged with police and the electoral regulator, the next steps are a review by election officials and an update from Greater Manchester Police on any investigative action. Democracy Volunteers contrasted the by-election figures with another recent Westminster contest, noting that in Runcorn and Helsby they had observed family voting in 12% of polling stations affecting 1% of voters, whereas their Gorton and Denton figures were markedly higher. Observers' data and party statements will shape decisions on whether further formal inquiries or prosecutions are pursued; interested parties have said they will await the full evidence and the observer report before determining further action.
