Heidi Soulsby: Voting matters

Given I’m a politician, it probably isn’t surprising that I love to follow general elections, wherever they take place in the world, or that I was particularly looking forward to 2024. This was already going to be a bumper year, even before President Macron unexpectedly decided that he wanted France to have some of the action. Globally, it’s been estimated that more people than ever before will cast their vote this year. At least 64 countries, plus the EU, representing nearly half the world’s population, are expected to hold national elections.

We’ve already had an election in the largest democracy on earth, India. So massive is it that the voting period lasts weeks. And on 5 November the United States of America will decide who will be their 47th president. At the time of writing, it looks like former President Trump is the favourite but, given how the campaign has gone so far, it would be a brave person who puts a bet on who will be celebrating with fireworks that day.

Of course, just because an election is held doesn’t mean it is free and fair, and it may be stretching things to say that elections held already this year in Pakistan and Russia could be called democratic, with political dissenters locked up or coming to a premature end.

This is why independent election observer missions are so important. They encourage the strengthening of democracy and good governance, and not only help to give confidence in the electoral process but can result in improvements for future elections.

A number of different international conventions exist when it comes to election observation and there are a number of organisations that undertake observer missions around the world. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is one such body.

Founded in 1911, the CPA is an international community of around 180 Commonwealth parliaments and legislatures working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance. It is divided into nine branches, one of which is the British Islands and Mediterranean Region (known as the BIMR).

Guernsey is a member, alongside the Westminster Parliament, the devolved administrations, Gibraltar, and islands as far apart as the Falklands and Cyprus. It was through the CPA BIMR that I had the opportunity, first to train as an election observer in March this year, and subsequently to take part as an independent observer of the UK election.

The role of an observer is quite simple – to independently and impartially gather information for the analysis of an election. How an observation mission is undertaken is set out in the UN Declaration of Principles for Election Observation, along with its code of conduct.

Expressions of interest to be an observer were requested a few weeks into the election campaign and I was delighted to be accepted a couple of weeks later, alongside parliamentarians from across the Commonwealth, including Lesotho, Kenya, Australia, Saint Lucia and the other Crown Dependencies.

The mission was present in the UK from 29 June to 6 July. After two days of training on the theory and practice of observations, and all aspects of the UK election itself, the 29 observers and 24 supporting staff were dispatched to their designated constituencies.

Eight had been selected to give a broad representation across the UK. I was sent to Ilford South in East London which, according to the 2021 census, has a population of 147,400, just over half of whom were born outside the UK. It has an ethnically diverse community with 61% identifying as Asian, 19.8% White and 9.9% Black/Caribbean/African. In terms of religion, 43.7% are Muslim, 23.6% Christian and 8.1% Sikh. It is also a relatively poor community, with over 60% considered deprived.

In the two days before election day we met with officials, candidates and a former MP for Ilford South. These gave a really useful insight, not only into how the election process was going, but also into the constituency itself.

As interesting as the previous days were though, it was all a prelude to 4 July and the election itself. The day began bright and early with the team convening at 6am, suitably attired in our hi-viz tabards. Clipboards at the ready, we made our way to our first polling station to witness it opening and to watch the first voters come through the doors at 7am. It was the start of a day of tick boxes and note-taking as we completed forms on what we observed at each polling station and the count. A lot of questions had to be answered, covering the actions of the officials, voters, other individuals and the station itself.

After visiting a further 11 polling stations in primary schools, church halls, a library and Muslim community centre, we arrived at our final polling station half an hour before it closed. At 10pm the queue had disappeared, the last vote had been cast and the ballot box was sealed. It was now time to follow it, together with various paperwork, to the Redbridge Sports Centre, where the count took place for both Ilford South and North.

Although ‘the count’ implies it is a singular action, there are actually two stages. The first reconciles the number of ballot papers with the totals on the register. The second is the one that separates the votes by candidate. It took a few hours to finish stage one, during which time we were able to watch the early results thanks to the BBC crew sat next to us who were there to see how Wes Streeting, the future Health and Social Care Secretary, would get on in Ilford North.

In the end, there was a predictable Labour win in both seats, though both results were closer than expected. The situation in Gaza was of deep concern to many in the community, reflected in the strong performance, and highly visible campaigning, of the independent candidates who stood on that issue.

After all that, the mission reconvened at CPA’s offices in Westminster on the Friday where we could talk through our findings before a press conference later in the afternoon.

So, what did we find? In summary, we were impressed by the dedication of all those who delivered a well-run election under a tight deadline and following substantial revisions of electoral law. There was a high level of trust and confidence in the electoral process.

High levels of disinformation, deep fakes and hate speech did not materialise. However, negative and derisive messages, especially online and disproportionately directed at women and minorities, did leave some candidates and their campaign staff feeling vulnerable, with at least one candidate requesting police protection.

In addition, perhaps unsurprisingly, given the experiences of Guernsey residents who wanted to vote, there were concerns about delays in the delivery of postal ballots. There may be a better idea of the extent of the issue when the final report is published in a couple of months’ time, and when a list of recommendations will be provided.

To witness democracy in action is a wonderful, fascinating, albeit completely exhausting, experience. It is a time when everyone is equal, where the billionaire’s vote is no more powerful than that of the poorest in the land. It is not a perfect system, and whatever the result, it doesn’t mean everything will work out perfectly. It never can as the problems we face are not simple to solve. However, we can all have our say in who we believe will try to do their best for us.

It is our general election in less than a year’s time. Please be a part of it, whether as a candidate, campaigner, election official, reporter or in some other capacity. But, most importantly, please use your democratic right to vote. As the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, said: ‘There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter. It all matters.’