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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what levels of documented scrutiny, including photo ID, is expected to apply in future for voters at a polling station; what assessment they have made as to how far this documentation may be more easily available for (1) older voters, (2) younger voters, and (3) people who move their address most frequently; and how this scrutiny will compare to that applied to UK citizens applying to register as overseas voters who are not recorded on previous electoral rolls.

The Elections Bill will bring in the requirement to show a photographic identity document when voting in polling stations. The Government has carried out research on the levels of ownership of relevant forms of identification amongst various demographics including age. This research is available here (attached) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voter-identification-photographic-id-ownership-in-great-britain>

Following the extension of the overseas electors franchise, the identity of all applicants will (as now) need to be verified as will their connection to an address in the UK before they can be added to the electoral register. Further detail can be found in the Government’s policy statement, “Overseas electors: Delivering ‘votes for life’ for British expatriates”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-electors-delivering-votes-for-life-for-british-expatriates/overseas-electors-delivering-votes-for-life-for-british-expatriates>