Family voting

Family voting is a form of electoral fraud, where family members enter a voting booth together and collude, discuss, or direct voting intentions.^[1] Family voting violates the individual voter sovereignty^[2] and secret ballot principles of free and fair elections, by enabling undue influence and coercion during the voting process.^[2] It can also occur during postal voting.^[2]

Research in Turkey in 2019 suggested that family voting had been under-reported there.^[3] In 2023, the United Kingdom passed the Ballot Secrecy Act to make it an offence for a person to "accompany an elector into a polling booth; or position near an elector inside a polling station with the intention of influencing how they cast their vote".^[4]^[5]

References

↑ "Democracy Volunteers PRELIMINARY STATEMENT – Sweden General Election 09/09/18". Democracy Volunteers. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
1 2 3 Schaffer, Frederic Charles (2014). "Not-So-Individual Voting: Patriarchal Control and Familial Hedging in Political Elections around the World". Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. 35 (4): 349–378. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2014.955407. ISSN 1554-477X. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
↑ Toros, Emre; Birch, Sarah (2019). "Who are the targets of familial electoral coercion? Evidence from Turkey". Democratization. 26 (8): 1342–1361. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1639151. ISSN 1351-0347. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
↑ Winchester, Nicole (11 July 2022). Ballot Secrecy Bill [HL]: HL Bill 15 of 2022–23 (Report). House of Lords Library. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
↑ "Ballot Secrecy Act", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2023 c. 12

[dv-20180909-1] "Democracy Volunteers PRELIMINARY STATEMENT – Sweden General Election 09/09/18". Democracy Volunteers. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2026.

[h204-2] 1 2 3 Schaffer, Frederic Charles (2014). "Not-So-Individual Voting: Patriarchal Control and Familial Hedging in Political Elections around the World". Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. 35 (4): 349–378. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2014.955407. ISSN 1554-477X. Retrieved 28 February 2026.

[p308-3] Toros, Emre; Birch, Sarah (2019). "Who are the targets of familial electoral coercion? Evidence from Turkey". Democratization. 26 (8): 1342–1361. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1639151. ISSN 1351-0347. Retrieved 28 February 2026.

[4] Winchester, Nicole (11 July 2022). Ballot Secrecy Bill [HL]: HL Bill 15 of 2022–23 (Report). House of Lords Library. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2024.

[5] "Ballot Secrecy Act", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2023 c. 12

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See also

References