| dc.description.abstract | Recent reviews of electoral integrity in England have fallen into two major categories. First, reviews that evaluate issues with the process visible to service-users, by researching specific contraventions of electoral integrity, measuring public confidence, or using expert surveys. Second, researchers have conducted ‘behind-the-scenes’ studies by interviewing administrators to inform evaluations of narrowly defined processes. This research takes a third approach by using a survey and series of interviews with electoral administrators to assess the overall state of electoral integrity in England. Importantly, both the electoral processes considered, and the values used to judge electoral processes have been defined by the electoral administrators themselves and inferred using thematic analysis. The research presented here offers not only new empirical evidence on the state of electoral processes from the point of view of the administrators tasked with delivering elections, but also a new perspective on electoral integrity itself.
The four values used by electoral administrators to judge elections are: administrative, inclusivity, security, and public perceptions. When judged by administrative values, electoral processes were criticised by administrators for their inefficiencies, inadequate resourcing, and the level of stress staff are under during an election period. In terms of inclusivity, electoral administrators were concerned about turnout and accessibility. Evaluations of electoral integrity based on security values were mainly positive, but criticisms were made of how postal voters could be vulnerable to manipulation or intimidation. Finally, public confidence was deemed to be high, but many administrators raised concerns about public understanding of electoral processes and the possibility that social media or politicians could undermine public confidence. Overall, the values by which administrators judge electoral processes, and their unique perspective as the main service-providers of elections, allow for a novel assessment of electoral integrity in England, uncovering issues that have been under-emphasised in existing research. | en_GB |
