Public Opinion Tracker 2022

Since 2007 the Electoral Commission has tracked public attitudes to different aspects of elections and democracy in the UK. Our most recent study was carried out online, across the UK, in February 2022.

Key findings

  • Public confidence in the running of elections continues to be high.
  • The long-time negative trend in the public’s perception of the transparency of party and campaigner finance has continued.
  • More people think that the introduction of a requirement to show ID when voting in polling stations will improve elections (43%), but it is polarising, with (31%) saying that they disagree with this. Around 4% do not have the required ID with a recognisable photo.1 This is higher among disadvantaged groups. 43% of those without the correct ID said they would definitely or probably apply to get a free voter ID card.
  • People have a difficulty knowing whether the information they read online is reliable or not. There is a great deal of suspicion regarding both political content online and political campaigning material.
  • Though starting from a low position (4% in 2021), twice as many people this year think that votes are not counted accurately at elections in the UK (8% in 2022). Among those that think votes are not counted accurately, the most used news source is social media websites. For those that do think the vote is counted accurately, social media is only their sixth most used news source.

Confidence and satisfaction with the electoral process

  • While there has been a decline, since last year, in the public’s perception of whether elections are well run and in their satisfaction with the process of voting, the longer term trend is still positive.
  • Last year’s results showed the highest recorded satisfaction (86%) with the process of voting at elections, and this year is the second highest (81%).
  • While Northern Ireland has slightly lower satisfaction than the other UK nations, the gap has been decreasing in recent years (3% lower than England in 2022 compared to a 21% gap in 2019).
  • There has been little change over time in the public’s confidence in knowing how to register (90% confident) or in knowing how to vote (92% confident).

Party finance

  • There has been an increase in the proportion of people who think there is inadequate regulation of the money political parties spend on their election campaigns. Over half of people see it as a problem (56%), up from 48% in 2021. Of the issues we asked about it was up to third2 in the list of concerns, behind only bias in the media and low voter turnout.
  • Positive perceptions around the transparency of the spending and funding of political parties/campaigners has been in decline since we first asked the question in 2011 (when 37% agreed it was transparent). 13% think it’s transparent in 2022. The proportion who actively disagree that spending and finance is transparent had remained in the low 40s (40-42%) between 2018 and 2020, but since then has increased to over to over half (52%) in 2022.
  • In the last year Wales has gone from the least negative (45% in 2021) on whether spending and finance is transparent, to the most negative (56% in 2022). Until 2020, Northern Ireland was the most negative on this but for the last couple of years it is in line with the UK average.
  • There is a similar trend on the funding of political parties and campaigners. 55% say that the system is not transparent (0-4 on a 0-10 point scale) and 24% say it is transparent (6-10 on a 0-10 scale). In 2020 there was an equal proportion saying it was and was not transparent (36% in each case).
  • Over twice as many people thought they could not find out how parties are funded (43%), compared to the 18% that said they could. As recently as 2017, 40% agreed they could find out how political parties were funded.
  • 32% agree that the authorities will take appropriate action if an organisation is caught breaking the rules. This also has been in decline since 2017 when it was 58% (45% in 2020). The number disagreeing had not changed much between 2018 and 2020 (19-22%) but now it has increased to 37% in 2022.

Voter identification in polling stations

  • More people think that the introduction of voter ID would improve the way that elections are run in Great Britain (43%) compared to those who disagree (31%).
  • Electoral fraud is seen as less of a problem then other problems around elections. It was rated as a problem by 26% of the population which is ninth out of nine on a general list of potential problems related to elections. 35% of the population say that it’s not a problem at all.
  • 62% of people say that the introduction of voter ID will increase security around the election. 50% though say it will make voting less convenient. 17% of people say that it will make them less likely to vote, compared to 12% who say it will make them more likely to vote.
  • 4% of the population in Great Britain either does not have any photo ID (3%) or does not have any photo ID where they think they are recognisable (1%). A further 2% said they did not know whether they had any of the forms of photo ID we asked about.
  • Less than half of those people without recognisable photo ID (43%) said that they would probably or definitely apply for a free voter ID card. 29% said they would definitely or probably not apply for the free voter ID card.
  • Those people who did not have recognisable photo ID were more likely to be from disadvantaged groups, such as those who are renting from their local authority (17% of whom did not have the correct ID), those renting from a housing association (10%), those who are unemployed (14%), those from lower social grade (8% of those who are DE social grade), and those with lower levels of education (7%).
  • 74% in Great Britain will not need to do anything different when they go to vote as they typically carry the necessary ID with them every time they leave their house.
  • 20% of the population do have the correct ID but will need to be reminded to take it with them as they go to the polls, as they do not typically take it with them when they leave the house.

Trustworthy campaigning

  • Just over half of people (59%) agree that they can judge whether the information they read online is reliable of not. Out of those that did agree, only 13% agree strongly with the statement and 46% said they tended to agree. 12% actively disagree that they could judge whether the information they read online is reliable or not.
  • 20% of people said they had seen a deepfake video in the last year. Of these over a third of people (36%) do not think that they could easily identify a deepfake. Under half (44%) actively think that they could.
  • Just under half (48%) disagree that the information available online about politics is trustworthy. Also just under half of people (46%) say they think political campaigning online is untrue or misleading.

Increase in proportion of people who believe the vote is not counted accurately

  • Twice as many people think that votes are not counted accurately (8% in 2022) at elections compared with last year (4% in 2021). The number who agree that the vote is counted accurately has decreased from 85% in 2021 to 74% in 2022.
  • Of those who disagree that votes are counted accurately, their main news source are social network websites (34% use social media as their main news source). For the majority who agree that the vote is counted accurately, social media websites rank as their sixth main news source (18% use social media as their main news source).
  • Those that don’t believe that votes are counted accurately are more likely to say that they do not feel well equipped to judge whether the information they read is accurate or not (18%) compared with those that do think the vote is counted accurately (11%).

Political education in schools

  • 79% of parents of children aged 14-18 agree that it is important that children learn the basics about politics, voting and democracy at school.
  • More parents are dissatisfied (35%) with the information that their children aged 14 to 18 receive about politics and democracy, compared to the 26% who are satisfied.

Electoral Commission perceptions

  • 35% had heard a great deal or fair amount about the Commission in 2022. 20% said they had heard about the Commission in the last year. Both statistics are identical to last year’s result.
  • 'Independent’ is still the word most associated with the commission (25%). ‘Important’ is back to the second highest association (21%). ‘Bureaucratic’ is back down to the third largest association (19%).

1. Which of the following forms of photo identification do you have? Select all that apply. Passport (British/ Commonwealth/ European economic area), Photocard driving licence, Northern Ireland Electoral ID card/ Translink photo Smartpass, UK biometric immigration document, EEA ID card, PASS scheme (official proof of age) card, Ministry of Defence photo ID card, Concessionary travel pass, Oyster 60+ pass, A Blue Badge photocard parking permit, Don’t have any of these forms of identification, Don’t know NB. Anybody who selected any form of ID at this question counted as having voter ID (so any answer apart from Don’t know or Don’t have any of these forms of Identification

 

2. We gave respondents a list of potential concerns: Barriers to democratic participation for minority groups, barriers to democratic participation for disabled people, Intimidation of candidates that run for election, Electoral fraud, Foreign influence on UK election results, Inadequate regulation of the money political parties spend on their election campaigns, inadequate regulation of political activity on social media, lower voter turnout at elections, Bias in the media