Checking your photo ID if you wear a face covering

If you wear a face covering for any reason, such as a mask worn for medical reasons or a face veil worn on religious grounds, you will be asked to momentarily remove it so polling station staff can check your photo ID looks like you. Face coverings can be worn for the rest of the voting process.

The process

The polling station staff will:

  • check that you’re on the electoral register
  • check that your photo ID is accepted, and that it looks like you
  • cross your name off the register, and give you your ballot paper or papers (you might have more than one ballot paper if there is more than one election taking place in your local area on the same day)

Find out more about voting in person at the polling station.

Privacy

You can ask to have your ID checked in private. You can also request that a female member of staff checks your ID. This request will be granted if possible.

There will be a mirror available in the polling station to allow you to replace your face covering once your ID has been checked.

Safety

As part of their planning, Returning Officer will have thought about what arrangements are necessary to help make polling stations safe places.

We don’t have the power to issue instructions to Returning Officers on the way they check voter ID. The process is set out in law, which is matter for the UK Government.

If you have concerns about how your photo ID will be checked, please contact your local Returning Officer to understand what local arrangements are in place to support the voting process. You can find their contact details by entering your postcode into our search.

If you’re not comfortable removing your face covering to have your ID checked at a polling station, you may prefer to appoint someone to vote on your behalf, known as proxy voting. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April. Find out more about proxy voting.

We are aware some voters are concerned about having to remove a face covering in order to have their identity checked. We will collate this feedback and consider it after the election, alongside other evidence, as part of our election reporting process.

Assessing the impact of the requirement to show photo ID

The requirement to show photo ID at the polling station is a new policy introduced by the UK Government. In planning the policy, the Government conducted a number of impact assessments which can be found on the UK Parliament website:

Any questions about the impact assessments should be directed to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.