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Independent assessors - including politicians from the Channel Islands - have said "confidence remained high" in the UK's General Election last week.
Deputy Heidi Soulsby from Guernsey, States of Alderney Member Ian Carter, and Jersey Deputies Tom Coles, Inna Gardiner, and Hilary Jeune were among the 32 politicians from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association who took part in an Election Observation Mission.
They were tasked with impartially observing voting across eight constituencies and 291 polling stations.
What an amazing week. Feel so privileged to have watched democracy in action. Met some wonderful people who helped make it happen across East London. Here’s a pic showing us at Ilford count. Great to be back home now and breathing Guernsey air, pic.twitter.com/Nm8htFGRRt
— Heidi Soulsby MBE (@HeidiSoulsby) July 6, 2024
This was the third Election Assessment Mission organised by the UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA UK) for a UK general election, aiming to assess how fairly and freely it was undertaken.
Head of the Mission and Member of the National Assembly of Kenya, Hon. Dr. Otiende Amollo has outlined how positive their interactions had been.
Despite fundamental changes to the electoral process, including widespread boundary changes and photo ID for voters, the Mission's initial findings show that confidence in the 2024 UK General election remained high.
The Mission found that “interlocutors largely welcomed” recent legal changes, however, they've also warned that changes to Voter ID “could discourage or be a potential obstacle to the participation of some voters”.
Particular praise has been given to local government for running the election administration which the Mission said, "enjoys wide public confidence”.
However, its praise was not universal, with the Mission saying representatives “repeatedly heard concerns about delays in the delivery of postal voting” and encouraged further investigation due to the risk of “effective disenfranchisement”.
“Fair and regular elections form the foundation of a democracy," said Hon. Amollo when launching the Mission's Preliminary Statement on Friday 05 July in the UK Parliament, just hours after the polls had closed.
"How elections are planned and executed must not only be transparent, but be seen to be so, hence the place of election monitoring, observation and assessment. Ultimately, the legitimacy and credibility of a government, in the comity of nations, rests upon this.”
Hon. Amollo concluded that: “Even in a relatively longstanding democracy like the UK, we see that there the electoral process still requires improvement, notably to increase participation and ensure that all voters can exercise their right to vote.
“This should serve as a reminder to all that democracy is not won with universal suffrage. It is won by caring for it and forever seeking to perfect it.”
Media briefing for preliminary statement of election assessment mission about to start. Picture to left is our team watching first declaration of the night thanks to @BBCHughPym and the BBC team. pic.twitter.com/V7IcibzY9Y
— Heidi Soulsby MBE (@HeidiSoulsby) July 5, 2024
Briefing begun. pic.twitter.com/05DvGQE4jw
— Heidi Soulsby MBE (@HeidiSoulsby) July 5, 2024
· The election administration carried out by local government, and the efforts of Returning Officers, Presiding Officers and volunteers across the country
· The confidence and impartiality of the review of constituency boundaries undertaken by the Boundary Commission
· The amount of candidates standing (4,379) - a new record
· The lack of impact deepfakes and disinformation despite “expectations of high levels” from stakeholders
· The time taken for postal votes to arrive at people’s homes and potential disenfranchisement of voters
· Low registration for ‘younger voters’ which requires to be “systematically addressed”
· The disproportionate level of negative and derisive messages directed at women and minorities
Over the next eight weeks, election analysts will be analysing the observers’ findings in more detail with a full report on the Mission due to be published in September.
The Channel Island representatives worked alongside parliamentarians from other countries including Anguilla, Australia, Grenada, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Turks & Caico.
Together they observed the following constituencies: Birmingham Ladywood, Brighton Pavilion, Bristol Central, Glasgow East, Ilford South, Liverpool Walton, North Northumberland, and North West Cambridgeshire – offering a broad cross-section of polling across the country, covering rural, urban, metropolitan, densely and sparsely populated areas.
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