Research looking at the rollout of Voter ID has shown that 95% of people who voted in person in May’s local elections found the process easy.
The research also showed that nearly eight in ten people were confident that these elections ran well and the majority of the public were aware of the new requirement to bring photo ID.
Commissioned by the Government, the report published today was drawn up through public opinion surveys, as part of ongoing evaluation work.
The Electoral Commission also found that 90% of voters were satisfied with the process of voting – in line with the most recent comparable elections in 2019, when 91% of voters were satisfied.
The Government has also today set out further work to be carried out by an external research agency to help develop our understanding of the rollout of Voter ID across Great Britain.
Elections Minister Baroness Scott said:
“We are committed to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to have their say in our democracy as we implement the Electoral Commission’s recommendation of introducing identification for voting in person across Great Britain, in line with the longstanding arrangements in Northern Ireland.
“The Government has always been confident in the ability of local authorities to implement the voter identification changes whilst continuing to deliver our elections robustly and securely.
“It’s very encouraging the vast majority of voters in the polling station - 99.75% - were able to cast their vote successfully at the local elections in England in May and adapted well to the rollout of voter identification in Great Britain.
“We are ensuring we fully understand how the policy has operated in practice, what has gone well and where there are any areas for improvement in the future.”
As set out in the Elections Act, voters are now required to bring photo ID for in person voting. This will help stamp out the potential for voter fraud, keep our democracy secure and bring the rest of the UK in line with Northern Ireland which has had photo identification to vote in elections since 2003.
As specified in this legislation, the government will carry out thorough evaluation of the implementation of voter identification at the local elections in May, and at the next two Parliamentary elections.
This will provide a full picture of the impact of voter identification and provide evidence on how the process could be improved, and will consider the Electoral Commission’s final report on the May 2023 local elections in England.
The two documents that have been published are the step to do this, and will pave the way for the Government’s first full evaluation report in November. Photo by Steve Cadman, Wikimedia commons.