Mandatory Voter ID Requirements

Voters in England need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations in some elections.

Photo ID is required for the following type of elections:

• UK parliamentary elections, including general elections, by-elections and recall petitions
• Local elections and by-elections
• Police and Crime Commissioner elections

You are not required to provide photo ID for postal voting.

Please visit The Electoral Commission to see a full list of accepted forms of photo ID.

Voter Authority Certificate

If you do not have any of the accepted forms of photo ID and you want to vote at your polling station, you will need to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate. This is a free photographic identification document specific for the purposes of voting.

The deadline for your Voter Authority Certificate application to be received by Electoral Services is 5pm on Wednesday June 26, 2024 when applying for a Voter Authority Certificate for the upcoming election being held on Thursday July 4, 2024.

All applications – both online and paper – will require an identity check as part of the application process. If your identity cannot be verified against the Department for Work & Pensions' records, then the Electoral Services office will request some documentary evidence to prove your identity.

The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate has now passed.

Postal and Proxy Voters

Postal voters will not be affected and will be issued with their postal ballot papers as usual. If you choose to vote by proxy then the person who you have trusted to vote on your behalf will have to take their own photo ID to be issued with a ballot paper.

For more information about voter ID, please visit The Electoral Commission.