EA Bulletin: 380 Wales

We have today (Tuesday 10 September) published our report on the implementation of voter ID at the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election. This was the first time that all voters across the UK were required to show an accepted form of photographic identification at polling stations for a general election.

Our report provides information and evidence about how voter ID was implemented and how voters found the requirement. It draws on evidence from large-scale public opinion research, as well as polling station data from local authorities in Great Britain. We are grateful for the quick return of this data by administrators.

Key findings highlighted in the report include:

• Data collected in polling stations shows that 0.08% of people who tried to vote at a polling station were not issued with a ballot paper because they did not have an accepted form of ID.  
• This means that one in 1,200 voters who tried to vote at a polling station were not given a ballot paper at the UK general election due to the ID requirement. In comparison, at the first elections in England with voter ID in May 2023, the equivalent figure was one in 400 (0.25%).
• In absolute numbers, around 16,000 people across Great Britain were unable to vote in person due to the requirement to show ID at a polling station. This compares to 14,000 in England at the May 2023 elections.
• The percentage of voters at polling stations who were not issued with a ballot paper because they could not show an accepted form of voter ID varied only slightly between England (0.08%), Scotland (0.09%) and Wales (0.07%).
• Our public opinion research found that around 4% of people across Great Britain who did not vote said that the requirement to show ID was a factor. When people who didn’t vote were asked to choose from a list of reasons, the proportion of people who gave a reason related to voter ID rose to 10%.
• Awareness of the need to show ID was high – 87% of people said they were aware when asked immediately after the election. However, awareness of the Voter Authority Certificate remains low at 58%.  
• Evidence suggests that the requirement to show voter ID affected some people more than others. In particular, people from a lower social grade (C2DE) who did not vote were more likely to say that this was because they did not have any accepted ID than those in a higher social grade (ABC1).

We have recommended changes to the UK Government to improve accessibility and support people who do not have accepted ID. These include:

• undertaking and publishing a review of the design, use and implementation of the Voter Authority Certificate to encourage greater take-up  
• reviewing the list of accepted ID to identify any additional documents that could be added, with a particular focus on forms of ID that would support those who are least likely to have documents on the current list
• enabling registered voters who do have accepted ID to make an attestation at their polling station on behalf of someone who does not have accepted ID (known as ‘vouching’).

We will publish our full report on the 2024 general election later in the autumn. This will draw on our full suite of evidence and data, including our surveys of candidates, Returning Officers, and polling station staff, and feedback from charities and civil society organisations.