Raising awareness of Voter ID at the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election

Our advertising ran across a range of different platforms. More traditional channels included TV, cinema, radio and billboards. We also ran across digital channels such as social media and websites. We continued to use newer channels such as Spotify and “in-game” advertising, where players would see our ads in the world of their game.

As in 2023 and the 2024 May elections, we used brightly coloured giant “sticky notes” to remind voters to bring their ID polling day. It was important that people knew they could apply for free voter ID if they did not have acceptable ID, and so we put emphasis and urgency on this option in our messaging.

As well as our paid advertising campaign, our partnership and voter engagement teams worked with a wide range of organisations and local authorities to provide support to groups of people who may be less likely to own voter ID. In the lead up to the general election, we shared our voter ID resources with hundreds of local authorities, civil society partners and Electoral Registration Officers to help them support voters to meet the voter ID requirement.

We issued dozens of press releases that drew attention to voter ID, including a final reminder for voters to bring ID the day before the election. This was complemented by a push across broadcast media, with Electoral Commission spokespeople conducting 17 interviews over the course of election day, delivering vital information to voters. More than 100 interviews that mentioned voter ID were conducted across the timeline of the campaign which reinforced our messaging and allowed us to gain maximum press coverage.

With this wide-reaching campaign, we achieved over 863 million impressions across Great Britain through our paid media advertising, while 88% of partners surveyed found our resources made it easier for their staff and volunteers to help the people they support to meet the voter ID requirement.

The impact of this work can be found in our report Voter ID at the 2024 UK general election. Immediately after the election, 87% of people in Great Britain were aware that they needed to show photo ID to vote at a polling station. Compared to research conducted of the electorate for the May 2024 elections in January, which put awareness levels in England (excluding London) at 74% and in Wales at 58%, this shows a substantial increase in awareness (though it should be noted that the electorates differed between the two elections). This increase is even more pronounced when it comes to awareness of the option of applying for free voter ID, which rose from 34% and 22% in England (excluding London) and Wales respectively to an overall awareness across Great Britain of 58%.

Of course, there is still work to be done. Our post-poll reporting on the impact of voter ID on the general election suggest that some groups are still less likely to know either about the requirement to bring ID or the option of applying for a free voter ID. This includes people from ethnic minority communities, younger age groups, people in certain social grades and disabled people.

By learning lessons from our post campaign analysis and post poll reports, we will continue to identity areas in which we can improve our campaign impact and reach. By continuing to increase awareness of the ID requirement and minimising the number of people being turned away at the polling station, we continue to work towards our core mission of making sure everyone can participate in our democracy.