The UK Elections Act 2022 gave the government of the day power to set a Strategy and Policy Statement outlining the strategic and policy priorities for elections and referendums. This document shapes the role, priorities and responsibilities of the Electoral Commission. In evidence to the UK Parliament I argue that this is removing the independence…Read more The UK Electoral Commission’s independence matters

The South African Electoral Commission hosted the Association of World Election Bodies' 5th General Assembly and International Conference Cape Town, South Africa. A key concern of the workshop was the democratic recession. I presented research developed with Holly Ann Garnett on whether there was an electoral integrity recession (look out for our forthcoming special issue of Electoral…Read more The Global Democratic Recession and Electoral Integrity: Strategies for EMBs

The Electoral Integrity Project hosted two workshops in Montreal, ahead of the APSA 2022 Annual Workshop. The first event focused on electoral integrity around the world in collaboration with the ACE Network and Elections Canada https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/2022-eip-global-workshop. I presented findings from the recent EIP Global Electoral Integrity Report. Speakers included: Electoral Integrity Project – Global Electoral…Read more The Electoral Integrity Project in Montreal

It doesn't look like it.... At least that's the working conclusion from a conference paper presented by my co-author Holly Ann Garnett at the Electoral Integrity Project workshop this month. https://youtu.be/Og4RuF7otAM

The Irish legislature had passed important reforms designed to improve electoral integrity. Here’s our blog on the reforms and what could happen next to take things further... https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2022/07/15/ireland-has-moved-to-improve-electoral-integrity-other-countries-should-follow-suit/

An excellent new book has been published, giving an essential guide to election law. It is from an international perspective and covers 'big themes' as well as country specific studies. The Routledge Handbook of Election Law is out now. It contains chapters from many excellent colleagues - and also a chapter from Holly Ann Garnett…Read more The Routledge Handbook of Election Law

A new special issue of Policy Studies is out now on Governance and Public Administration in China. You can read the introduction for free here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01442872.2022.2054091 The full special issue is here: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cpos20/43/3?nav=tocList

The Electoral Integrity's Global Electoral Integrity Report 2019-21 was been published! The report finds that: Electoral integrity remains the highest in Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.Regional disparity remains in electoral integrity, with some of the lowest scores found in Africa and Asia.Although electoral integrity continued to be generally higher in countries with much higher…Read more Global Electoral Integrity Report 2019-21 Published

Only days before the 2022 May elections, new laws have been rushed through parliament, with amendments and approval (Royal Assent) occuring within the space of less than 24 hours. This means that in future, elections will be very different. The government has pushed through changes which it says will ensure greater protection against election fraud,…Read more How the Elections Act is changing UK elections

The Elections Bill is working it's way through the UK Parliament and some of the reforms would remove independence from the Electoral Commission, by allowing the government to set 'Strategy and Policy Statement' which the Commission would have to follow. I spoke to John Pienaar on Times Radio, explaining the background and the problem. For…Read more The UK Elections Bill will remove the Electoral Commission’s independence