May 2023 elections: You now need photo ID to vote at a polling station

• News and Updates

The Elections Act 2022 and related regulations enforced a requirement for electors that vote at a polling station to provide a form of accepted, photographic ID that must be verified by the staff before being given a ballot paper to vote. 

This became the law for all elections in England from Thursday, 4 May 2023 and is not a local rule change. 

Voter-ID-Resource_A4-Poster-Print-Ready-2_May-2023

Nationally, the Electoral Commission have been advertising on radio, tv and newspapers since early January 2023.  Poll cards will now list the acceptable forms of ID on the back.

A list of accepted forms of photo ID can be found on the District Council website by clicking on Voter ID.  The ID can be expired but the photo must still look like the person.  The original document must be presented at the polling station, copies or pictures of it on a smartphone will not be accepted because they can be edited using software.

If you do not have one of the accepted forms of ID, you can apply for a free, Voter Authority Certificate at the gov.uk website by clicking on Voter Authority Certificate.

Please remember to bring your photo ID to future elections if you intend to vote at a polling station.  Polling station staff must adhere to the law and have been trained as such, if they issue a ballot paper without seeing and verifying voter’s ID they are breaking the law.

Electors can apply for a postal vote, details of this can be found by clicking on Postal Vote Application.

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