Recommendation 8

HM Government Deferred

This Government was elected on a manifesto commitment to address the inconsistencies in the voter ID rules that prevent legitimate voters from participating. As set out in the Strategy, the Government is clear that significant improvements are needed to remove barriers to participation while maintaining proportionate safeguards against personation. The Electoral Commission’s report into Voter ID at the 2024 UK general election, published September 2024, showed 4% of non-voters at the 2024 General Election cited voter ID as a factor in their not turning out to vote. Evidence also consistently shows that at least 2% of people in Great Britain do not hold a form of ID on the current list and that certain groups of people are less likely to have accepted forms of ID. Extensive research was also conducted by IFF Research, who looked into the impacts of voter ID on different demographics and their propensity to vote, as published in May 2025 in the IFF evaluation of the impact and implementation of the Elections Act. It is essential to keep our democratic processes under review to ensure they are fit for purpose, which is why we previously amended the list of accepted identifications to include the HM Armed Forces Veteran Card. As set out in the Strategy for Elections, after careful review and consideration of potential changes to ensure the accessibility of the voter ID policy, we will further be amending legislation to permit the use of UK-issued bank cards as an accepted form of voter identification in Great Britain. This change will increase accessibility and ensure greater choice and flexibility for voters. Bank cards are held by the overwhelming majority of the electorate, and this change will significantly reduce the proportion of legitimate electors who are unable to meet the identification requirement. This change is particularly important to ensure those who are less likely to hold photo ID–such as electors with disabilities and younger electors– are effectively able to engage with the democratic process and have their voices heard. We recognise the additional challenges that may be faced by 16- and 17-year-old electors, and awareness raising within this demographic of the voter ID requirements and availability of the Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) will be important as votes at 16 is introduced. The Government is committed to modernising and improving ways for people to interact with government digitally and recognises the great value and convenience that the use of digital IDs can bring to the public particularly though simplified access and use. We therefore agree with the Committee’s recommendation on the use of digital IDs as voter ID and the Committee will be pleased to note that we announced in our Strategy for Elections our intention to also create a digital VAC as a further option for electors. This is alongside the clarification that, as photographic documents already on the accepted list of voter ID become available in digital form, these too will be accepted at the polling station. We have no intention to mandate that all applications to register from any age group must also include an application for a VAC. The VAC is an option available to ensure those who may not hold any other accepted document can access a form of photo ID free of charge. It is therefore not necessary for everyone to hold a VAC, particularly as the upcoming changes to the voter ID policy outlined above will make the policy more accessible to voters. In addition, an application for a VAC requires additional information (primarily a photograph) compared to an application to register. We do not think it appropriate to require electors to provide this information, and we continue to aim to keep the registration process as simple and straightforward as possible. In relation to the VAC, we recognise the need to further raise awareness across the electorate of its availability, and we will continue to support the Electoral Commission and local authorities in doing so. We do not intend to change the format of the VAC from paper to plastic. A paper format allows for VACs to be produced faster and in greater volumes, and this enables the application deadline to be set closer to polling day than would be the case for a plastic VAC–to the benefit of the elector. The decision to seek PASS accreditation for an identity document is one that should be taken by the issuing organisation. The benefits of accreditation may not be applicable where the primary purpose of the document is not identification. An example may be for some work passes where the main purpose is to grant access to a workplace. The Government has no plans to create a standard template for physical identity documents as the ambition is to move towards digital ID and to maximise the use of technology to improve the way government delivers for the public. We will continue to monitor the impact of the voter identification policy as a whole and will continue to consider