The Government has been urged to consider adding additional forms of identification to the list of documents that are accepted during elections.
Under the Elections Act 2022, voters are required to present photographic ID as part of the Government’s Electoral Integrity Programme.
The House of Lords Constitution Committee today published a letter to the minister for local government warning that the voter ID requirement has prevented some demographic groups who are less likely to have accepted forms of ID, such as the unemployed, lower social grades, the over-85s and disabled people, from voting.
The letter called on the Government to consider the benefits of adding more forms of ID to the list which are widely available, such as rail passes, and emphasised the need for awareness-raising around the rules.
It also argued that the Voter Authority Certificate, a means for those without another form of accepted ID to exercise their right to vote, should be digitised.
