Almost half of councils not confident in ability to train staff for introduction of voter ID

Almost half of councils (45%) are not confident that they can train staff to check ID to ensure those with a right to vote are able to vote in the May 2023 English local elections, a report has revealed.

In April 2022, the Elections Act 2022 was passed by Parliament, which will introduce the requirement to show photo ID at UK Parliamentary elections, police and crime commissioner elections and at local elections in England.

Following enactment, secondary legislation has been moved so that voter ID will come into effect in England ahead of the May 2023 local elections.

The report, by Dr John Ault, identifies "deep concerns" over the deliverability of the new policy in the May 2023 local elections.

In a survey of councils holding elections then (to which 70 councils responded), 45% said they were either ‘not at all confident’ or ‘not so confident’ that they could train staff on the new voter ID requirements.

When asked how confident they were that staff would be ready to run the 2023 local elections before the secondary legislation was published, an overwhelming 86% of responding elections staff said they were either ‘not at all confident’ or ‘not so confident’.

In response to the question, ‘are you worried that delivering this part of the new election procedure will lead to problems in polling stations?’ not one respondent said they were ‘not at all worried’. Over 57% said they were ‘very or extremely worried', the report revealed.

The Association of Electoral Administrators, the representative body of election administrators in the UK said in a statement concerning the changes to elections: “We are concerned a deadline to apply [for ID] too close to polling day could end up disenfranchising electors who do not receive their ID in time. A short deadline could also become an unmanageable burden on EROs [Electoral Registration Officers] and ROs [Returning Officers], arguably at disproportionate cost to the public purse.

“For a smooth transition, any electoral ID scheme requires sufficient lead-in time for legislation, administrative planning, and delivery. We believe the ‘Gould Principle’ must apply – with changes introduced at least six months before a major electoral event. It is also crucial that full national funding is available, with no additional cost burden pushed onto local authorities now or in the future.”

Lottie Winson