Urgent Question on Voter ID

An Urgent Question was granted asking the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities if he will make a statement on arrangements in place to record the number of voters who attend at a polling station and are denied a vote because they are not in possession of valid ID. In April 2022 the Elections Act 2022 was passed which requires voters in to show photo ID before being issued a ballot paper in polling stations at UK Parliamentary elections, local council elections and referendums in England and police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales. Polling station staff will be recording details of any electorates turned away to provide data for the evaluation of the policy.

I intervened in the debate and asked the Minister of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rachel Maclean MP:

“Could I ask the Minister when the data will be published and could she ensure it is published within 28 days of the 4 May?”

The Minister responded that the Government will be publishing a number of reports on the impact of the voter identification policy and the first of these reports will be published no later than November 2023 and the data collected will be a significant part of that evaluation.