Election
United Kingdom 2016 EU Membership Referendum
June 23, 2016
Leave won the 23 June 2016 referendum on EU membership 51.89% to 48.11% on a 72.2% turnout. The vote itself was well-administered — paper ballots hand-counted in 382 local counting areas — but the campaign left a documented integrity record: the Electoral Commission fined both designated Leave campaigns for breaking spending law, the UK Statistics Authority called the £350m-a-week claim a clear misuse of official statistics, and the Intelligence and Security Committee later found the government had 'actively avoided' investigating possible Russian interference.
Official results
- Leave51.9%17,410,742
Won majorities in England and Wales
- Remain48.1%16,141,241
Won majorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland
The Integrity Ledger
What the evidence establishes, and what it does not — side by side, each finding sourced and tiered.
What is established
- Process violationsConfirmed
The Electoral Commission found both Leave campaigns broke spending law: Vote Leave exceeded its £7 million limit by almost £500,000 through undeclared joint working with BeLeave and was fined £61,000 (its responsible person was referred to the police; the fines were paid in 2019 and the appeal withdrawn), and Leave.EU overspent by at least 10% with misreported loans and missing invoices and was fined £70,000, with its responsible person also referred to the police.
What is not established
- Foreign interferenceAlleged
Possible Russian interference was never investigated: the Intelligence and Security Committee found in 2020 that the government 'actively avoided' looking for evidence of Russian interference in UK democratic processes including this referendum, and no official assessment has ever been made — interference is neither established nor ruled out.
Sources:1 - Result falsificationDebunked
No credible claims of a falsified count: paper ballots were hand-counted overnight in 382 local counting areas with accredited observers present, and the Electoral Commission found the referendum well-run. The collapse of the voter-registration website hours before the June 2016 deadline was caused by exceptional demand, not an attack, and Parliament legislated to extend the deadline.
Sources:1
Process assessment
The Electoral Commission's post-poll report records a well-administered referendum with the largest UK-wide electorate ever registered to that point; the integrity failures documented in this cycle concern campaign finance and the uninvestigated question of foreign interference, not the conduct of the count.