Andy Munns
With a number of elections due to take place in the county soon, Wiltshire Council is reminding residents that voter ID will now be required.
Due to changes that came into effect on 4 May 2023, voters in England now need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations in some elections.
This applies to:
- Wiltshire Council elections and by-elections
- City, Town and Parish elections and by-elections
- Neighbourhood Planning Referendums
- Police and Crime Commissioner elections
- UK parliamentary by-elections
- Recall petitions
From October 2023 it will also apply to UK General elections.
Accepted forms of ID include a passport, driving licence, or travel passes such as an older person’s bus pass or a disabled person’s bus pass. More information about what photo ID is acceptable can be found at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/accepted-forms-photo-id.
If anyone doesn’t have accepted photo ID, they can apply for a free voter ID document, which is known as a Voter Authority Certificate. More information about that can be found at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate. It’s part of Wiltshire Council’s role to process Voter Authority Certificates applications.
There are a number of local elections scheduled to take place in Wiltshire throughout June and if contested these will be the first in the Wiltshire Council local authority area that will require Voter ID. They include:
- Tisbury Unitary Division of Wiltshire Council – 8 June 2023
- Amesbury Town Council – Amesbury South Ward – 8 June 2023
- Amesbury Town Council – Amesbury West Ward – 8 June 2023
For those elections taking place on 8 June the deadline to register to vote is 22 May, the deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 23 May and the deadline to vote for voter certification (if someone doesn’t have photo ID) is 5pm on 31 May.
Terence Herbert, Returning Officer for Wiltshire, said: “For the first time in Wiltshire people will need photo ID or a Voter Authority Certificate to take part in elections. We don’t want a lack of ID prevent people from casting their ballot.
Our staff at polling stations have been trained on the new procedures, but when people arrive at the polling stations to have their say, they need to do their bit too. So I ask people to please remember their ID or certificate before they head out to vote.”
More information about Voter ID can be found at www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID.
More information about Wiltshire elections can be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections.
