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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects of requiring voters to show photo ID to vote in elections on voter turnout; when that assessment was carried out; and what effects on voter turnout the assessment showed for (1) the overall voting age population, (2) unemployed people, (3) people who rent their home from a local authority, (4) people who rent those home from a housing association, (5) people with a disability, (6) people who identify as transexual, and (7) people from a Black, Asian or Minority ethnic heritage.

Levels of turnout fluctuate year-on-year as a result of a range of factors, even between the same types of elections. A variety of disparate factors play a part in whether someone chooses to vote in any particular election, from the appeal of candidates standing, to an elector’s personal circumstances on the day. Based on the independent Electoral Commission’s evaluations of the 2018 and 2019 voter ID pilots, there is no indication that any consistent demographic was adversely affected by the use of voter ID. The evaluation shows that the pilots were a success and the overwhelming majority of people cast their vote without a problem

Personation in polling stations is very difficult to identify and prove as, by definition, it is a crime of deception. Therefore, it is difficult to identify a precise number of likely future attempts at personation. But it is by no means a victimless crime. In 2013, the Electoral Commission found that it is often the most vulnerable who find themselves targeted, so it is right that we stamp out any potential for it to take place in elections