By which benchmarks should we assess political leaders? How are Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage performing, and why?Watch our expert book launch from this week, including: Charles Clarke, Tim Bale, Patrick Diamond and Emmanuel Avril.It provides an overview of the conceptual and political landscape - useful for scholars, students, the media and the…Read more The State of Political Leadership in Britain
Overseas voting in Canada
The Canadian House of Commons is examining how overseas voting works in Canadian elections. At present, special ballots can be issued to electors overseas. However, there are concerns inside Canada about whether this system enables everyone to vote. Drawing from various studies of UK electoral administration, it was a great honour to give evidence to…Read more Overseas voting in Canada
What is an electoral integrity research methodology?
How do different scholars do research on electoral integrity? How should they? Prior to making a decision about the choice of methods (e.g. surveys, interviews...) there is a decisions about *methodology*. This involves making assumptions about the nature of the social scientific enquiry. In this new chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Electoral Integrity I…Read more What is an electoral integrity research methodology?
The case for residence based voting
Universal suffrage is often said to be a defining feature of democracy, but is not the reality for many elections around the world.In this new piece for Political Quarterly with Jamie Underwood, we map the arguments for enfranchising all residents - and then the number of unenfranchised adults in the UK.The conversations that take place…Read more The case for residence based voting
Evoting Conference 2025
It was an honour to key the keynote speech open the t𝗵𝗲 𝗘-𝗩𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗗 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. It look place in 𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆, France at the Centre Inria de l’Université de Lorraine. Over three days, more than 𝟭𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱—in computer science, political science, law, cybersecurity, and electoral institutions—will discuss the challenges of…Read more Evoting Conference 2025
Billions voted in 2024, but Electoral Integrity Project exposes cracks in global democracy
by Toby S. James, Holly Ann Garnett, and Sofia Caal-Lam The Global Electoral Report 2025 has been published and raises concerns about the state of democracy around the world during 2024’s ‘Super Cycle’ of elections. Described by Time Magazine as the ‘Year of Elections’, 2024 saw 1.6 billion people head to the polls across 74…Read more Billions voted in 2024, but Electoral Integrity Project exposes cracks in global democracy
Electoral Integrity-IDEA report on ‘Review of the 2024 Super-Cycle Year of Elections’ calls for global action
The Electoral Integrity Project collaborated with International IDEA to publish a special report on “Review of the 2024 Super-Cycle Year of Elections: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities”. I edited report alongside Holly Ann Garnett and Erik Asplund. It included chapters from myself, Vasil Vashchanka, Gudlaug Olafsdottir, Julia Thalin, Ingrid Bicu, Sonali Campion, Erik Asplund, Madeline Harty…Read more Electoral Integrity-IDEA report on ‘Review of the 2024 Super-Cycle Year of Elections’ calls for global action
What if everyone could vote?
Last week we launched a new report in Parliament on the UK electoral franchise. The report estimated that there are 4.4 million resident adults in the UK who are unenfranchised at Parliamentary elections - and 1.2 million at local elections. They are legally resident; contribute economically & socially to society; and, are bound by the…Read more What if everyone could vote?
Direct enrolment can help to improve UK voter participation
Turnout at general elections is in long term decline. At the 2024 general election, only 52.8 per cent of the population over 18 (rather than registered voters) cast a ballot – a figure which has been declining at an alarming rate. In a new report, we set out how direct enrollment voter registration can be implemented…Read more Direct enrolment can help to improve UK voter participation
Electoral Reform: Democratic Principles and Global Practice
Election quality varies enormously around the world. Given concerns about global democratic backsliding, the issue of how to improve and protect election quality is a pressing policy problem. Passing reforms to improve the quality of elections, however, has often proved difficult to achieve. Incumbent governments may be reluctant to reform the rules which brought them…Read more Electoral Reform: Democratic Principles and Global Practice
Toby S. James 