Voter ID - Levelling-Up Committee Chair writes to Government on voter turnout concerns

• Letter to the Minister
• Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee

The Chair’s letter refers to figures from the Electoral Commission report which showed voter ID had a significant impact on some people’s ability to vote at the local elections in May 2023.

The Committee’s correspondence states that while the Electoral Commission’s post-poll report (published in September) noted 14,000 people were recorded as being unable to vote due to the requirement for voter ID, the Electoral Commission has warned they believe the actual number to be far greater.

The Electoral Commission’s initial analysis of the local elections found 4% of people did not vote as a result of the voter ID requirement. In correspondence on 12 September to the Committee, the Electoral Commission confirmed that based on the local election turnout figures, 4% of non-voters was equivalent to 740,000 people.

Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, said:

“The Electoral Commission have found that voter ID had a significant impact on some people’s ability to vote at the local elections in May. The Government needs to spell out how it will act on the Electoral Commission’s recommendations and the steps it will take to ensure the proportion of those unable to vote due to voter ID is not considerably higher at a future general election.

“It is particularly concerning that the Electoral Commission found unemployed voters and disabled voters were more likely to be unable to vote due to the voter ID requirement. The Government should set out what it will to do to change this and to ensure specific groups of individuals, including unemployed or disabled individuals, are not disproportionately impacted by this requirement in future elections.”

The Chair’s correspondence calls for the Government to confirm if it plans to expand forms of accepted ID. The letter also highlights concerns about the recruitment and retention of electoral staff, a long-standing problem but which, evidence suggests, has been exacerbated with the roll out of voter ID.

The Levelling Up Committee has been reviewing the implementation of voter ID in connection with the local elections as part of its inquiry into electoral registration.

In July, LUHC Committee Chair Clive Betts joined William Wragg MP, Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) - two select committees which have been tracking the progress of changes to electoral law - to talk about voter ID on the select committee podcast, Committee Corridor.

Further information

• Inquiry: Reforming the Private Rented Sector
• Levelling up, Housing and Communities Committee

Image: PA/Rui Vieir