Kate Hollern calls for review on voter ID after elections

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a column about the introduction of voter ID at polling stations.

The local elections in England in May 2023 saw this policy implemented for the first time.

With local elections having taken place across the country again last Thursday, we are building an ever-clearer picture of the impact of the voter ID policy.

It is vital that this is fully understood ahead of the imminent general election, where turnouts tend to be far higher, and the impact is likely to be magnified.

A year ago, I stated my hope that the Government would follow through on its commitment to undertake an independent review of the implementation and impact of the voter ID policy.

Since then, the Electoral Commission has published a full statutory report. The Government has responded to this, as well as published its own evaluation of the policy.

In its statutory report of September 2023, the Electoral Commission found that 14,000 people who tried to vote at polling stations were unable to do so due to the new voter ID requirement.

The Commission’s survey also found that four per cent of people – around 740,000 – did not vote due to the requirement.

The statutory report also confirmed the Commission’s interim findings that some groups found it harder than others to show accepted voter ID, including disabled people, younger voters, people from ethnic minority communities, and the unemployed.

This is extremely concerning. More concerning, however, is the fact that these statistics almost certainly do not represent the true scale of the impact.

In my capacity as a member of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, I have closely examined the voter ID policy as part of the Committee’s recent inquiry into the current system of voter registration in the UK.

Since I last wrote about this topic a year ago, the inquiry has concluded and the report has been published. It included several recommendations, many of which echo those of the Electoral Commission’s report.

Chiefly, it recommends that the Electoral Commission carries out a proper assessment of the impact of the voter ID requirement before the next general election, including a review of data collected locally.

The Committee’s report shares the concerns of the Commission about the negative impact of the policy on specific groups of voters, and the worrying potential that this may reduce turnout at the next general election among these groups.

As such, the Committee recommends that the Government engage with these specific groups about the voter ID requirement ahead of the next general election.

The Committee disagrees with the Government’s view of the adequacy of the current list of accepted photo ID, arguing that it should be expanded.

Finally, the Committee’s report recommends that local government and the Electoral Commission work together to raise awareness of the need for Voter Authority Certificates (VACs) prior to the next general election.

I look forward to the Government response to the Committee’s report, which is due by May 21. However, I do not have high hopes for it, given that the Government rejected several of the recommendations made by the Electoral Commission in its statutory report at the end of last year.

The Government response to the Electoral Commission rejected calls for additional types of ID to be added to the list, but said it would keep the list under review.

The Government also rejected the Commission’s recommendation that the deadline for applying for a VAC should be closer to the close of poll, stating that it had worked with stakeholders in deciding the most appropriate deadline, and highlighting that appointing an emergency proxy was an option for people with problems with their VAC application after the deadline.

The Government also rejected the Electoral Commission’s recommendation that it should consider introducing attestation - a way for another voter to vouch for another's identity at a polling station.

Finally, the Government rejected the proposal for a requirement for returning officers to collect more data above what is already required, maintaining that data collection should remain at the discretion of the returning officer.

Whatever the long-term viability of the voter ID policy, it is undoubtedly here to stay until at least after the next general election.

As such, it is vital that we learn from last Thursday’s local elections, build a clearer picture of the policy’s impact, and ensure that nobody is prevented from exercising the most fundamental of democratic rights.

Kate Hollern is the Labour MP for Blackburn.