Partisan vs Accredited Observers

Topics / Partisan vs Accredited Observers

This page applies to the United Kingdom.

Accredited Observers are accredited by the Electoral Commission, either directly and reporting to them, or through a domestic observer group, in which case they report to that group. The UK has one active non-partisan domestic observer group, Democracy Volunteers, which accounts for half of the UK's 2,000 or so Accredited Observers.

Partisan Observers are election candidates and their agents (Electoral, Count, Polling and Postal Voting Agents, and Canvassers) . They should report to people in positions of authority: the Electoral Registration Officer or the (Acting) Returning Officer, the Electoral Commission, their own political party or headquarters, the Police SPOC (Single Point of Contact for election matters, contactable via the (Acting) Returning Officer), elected councillors or MPs.

Accredited and Partisan observers act as Short Term Observers, observing election processes on the ground in person.

Comparing Accredited Observers and Candidates' Agents, the latter can actually do more, as they have access to the full electoral roll and can apply their own seals to ballot boxes:

See, Candidates and Electoral Agents can do 12 things, Accredited Observers 10. Agents fulfilling multiple roles can also reach 12 points.

Partisan Observers can report when and where they like. Accredited Observers must report only to the electoral commission. The electoral commission do include some accredited observers findings in their statutory reports.