What Is Family Voting: Observers Flag High Rates at Gorton and Denton By-election
Nigel Farage has taken formal steps after independent election observers raised unusually high levels of family voting at the Gorton and Denton by-election, lodging a complaint with Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission. The issue matters now because the observers recorded measurable rates of apparent ballot interference and party leaders are urging investigations that could touch on the integrity of the result.
Democracy Volunteers' observations
Democracy Volunteers deployed four accredited election observers across the constituency and attended 22 of the 45 polling stations while polls were open, spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each location and working in pairs. The team observed a sample of 545 voters and concluded there were 32 cases of apparent collusion, with family voting seen in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed and nine cases recorded in one single polling station. The observers calculated that 12% of the voters they saw were either directed or affected by family voting; expressed as a share of polling stations observed, that equated to 68% in Gorton and Denton. The group said these were the highest levels it had recorded in its 10-year history of observing elections in the UK.
The volunteers also reported additional irregularities: voters being turned away because they were not registered to vote in Westminster elections—for example, some EU citizens eligible only for local elections—instances of voters taking photographs of their ballot papers, and one person being authorised to vote despite them already—unclear in the provided context. The observers noted that signage discouraging family voting was present in only 45% of the polling stations they visited.
Nigel Farage's complaint to Greater Manchester Police
The Reform UK leader has formally reported allegations of family voting to Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission and urged a full investigation. He characterised what was witnessed at polling stations as "deeply concerning, " argued the activity raised serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas, and warned of potential coercion with postal votes if no action is taken. In a letter to the elections watchdog he asked it to work with police "with a view to prosecutions" and to "assess whether the extent of the irregularities is such that the validity of the election result may be called into question. " Reform UK finished second to the Green Party by more than 4, 000 votes at the by-election, a result Farage labelled "a victory for sectarian voting and cheating. "
Electoral Commission and Greater Manchester Police response
The Electoral Commission has said it is treating the claims very seriously and will carefully consider the report, adding that it is in close contact with the returning officer and Greater Manchester Police to speedily and carefully review the concerns and all the available information. Greater Manchester Police confirmed a report has been made and said it is in the process of reviewing that report and will provide a further update in due course.
Reactions from Green Party, Labour and Reform UK figures
The Green Party pushed back, with a spokesman describing the complaint as an attempt to undermine the democratic result and calling it "straight out of the Trump playbook, " while noting the Greens had won a historic by-election by a comfortable margin and had shown they could beat Reform. Green party leader Zack Polanski said he would back an investigation and supported full transparency about the democratic process. Labour described the reports as "extremely worrying and concerning, " with Anna Turley saying evidence and the full observer report must be seen before decisions are made about next steps. The Reform UK chair, David Bull, said "electoral fraud is a stain on democracy" and that he would support reporting alleged problems and ensuring any action is taken within the law.
Who are Democracy Volunteers and what is family voting
Democracy Volunteers, founded by John Ault and supported by Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, describes itself as a non-partisan domestic election observation organisation committed to improving the security and accessibility of elections in the UK and abroad. It is one of the election observer organisations accredited by the Electoral Commission and was present in 204 parliamentary constituencies and more than 1, 000 polling stations during the 2024 general election. Accredited observers are entitled by law to attend polling stations and counts, and must abide by a code of practice that requires political impartiality; the Electoral Commission conducts checks on political activity when processing accreditation applications and can revoke accreditation for breaches of impartiality.
The term 'family voting' commonly refers to accompanying voters into or near polling booths and influencing them to vote in a particular way, for example by entering the polling booth with them. The Ballot Secrecy Act of 2023 made such practices more clearly a breach of the secret ballot, and a 2022 government press release documented cross-party concerns about family or community voting where voters are alleged to be pressured by spouses or partners inside polling booths. What makes this notable is the combination of a legal framework that clarifies the breach and contemporaneous observer data suggesting unusually high incidence at a single by-election, prompting multiple calls for formal review and possible legal action.
