Voter ID

The UK government has decided that voters must show photo identification when voting in person at elections.

Acceptable photo ID includes:

a passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or Commonwealth country
a driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or an EEA state
a biometric immigration document
an identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (PASS)
Ministry of Defence form 90 (Defence identity card)
a blue badge
a national identity card issued by an EEA state
an Older Person’s Bus Pass
a Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
an Oyster 60+ card

We can even accept expired ID, as long as it still looks like you.

You can find out more about the introduction of voter ID.

If you don't have photo ID

If you do not have any of these forms of ID, or are not sure that the photograph still looks like you, then you can apply for a voter authority certificate for free.

Statistics

Following the 2023 local elections, we have published some statistics on the impact of the voter ID requirements.

Total number of polling station electors who:

applied for, but at least initially were not issued with, a ballot paper: 127
were not issued with a ballot paper and who later returned with accepted ID and were issued with a ballot paper: 88
applied for but were not issued with a ballot paper by close of poll: 39

Total number of:

electors who were eligible to vote in person at the polling stations: 130,295
voters issued with a ballot paper at polling stations: 42,077