Elections: Proof of Identity

(asked on 4th October 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the voter identification pilot schemes, what estimate they have made of the number of people who could be turned away from polling stations in a General Election.


Answered by
Lord Greenhalgh Portrait
Lord Greenhalgh
This question was answered on 18th October 2021

The Government in its manifesto committed to protecting the integrity of our democracy by introducing identification to vote at polling stations. Stealing someone’s vote is stealing their voice. Voter fraud is a crime that we cannot allow room for and we must stamp out any potential for it to take place in elections.

Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the required forms of photographic identification, can apply for a free, local Voter Card from their local authority. The Electoral Commission will provide a comprehensive, targeted communications campaign and guidance, raising awareness throughout the electorate of the new voter identification requirements.

As set out in the Elections Bill, Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales and Returning Officers in Scotland will be required to keep a record of those people for whom a ballot paper was refused and the reasons for this refusal.

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