To ask if you knew you now need photo ID to vote at a polling station?

[DidyouknowyouneedID]

As of the local and Mayoral elections in May in England, you'll need to show photo ID at a polling station when you go to vote in person.

For Wales this also includes PCC elections and parliamentary seats.

If you don't have photo ID, you won't be given a ballot paper.

Here's a list of the accepted forms of photo ID that you need to take with you:

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/accepted-forms-photo-id

And if you don't have accepted photo ID you can apply online for a Voter Authority Certificate before 25 April and take that with you:

www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

Yes you do.

The easiest group of people to identify online would be those on benefits. But then perhaps that's isn't the demographic that they want to ensure votes. My DD has just got a mortgage using thirdfort. I've just got a personal loan using the Post Office I.D service. I don't have a passport or driving license. The new rules don't make sense, but that shouldn't be a surprise.

To apply for a Voter Authority Certificate you have to be registered to vote already, and you have to give your National Insurance number.

You can still apply if you do not have a National Insurance number. You’ll need to provide other documents to prove your identity, for example a birth certificate, bank statement and utility bill.

No you don't. Collecting a parcel you can use the card you paid on, or other credit cards etc. There's checks that don't need photo ID for employment, loans, getting a job.

Is voter ID a barrier to voting in any other country? We are the outlier here. You need ID in most (every?) Other EU country. I don' t understand why we have such an issue with it in this country?

Because those countries issue free ID of suitable type to all citizens, so all you need to do is rock up with what you have already been given.

The UK has a long and proud no papers culture, but the government is making it necessary to present papers - which are not easy or cheap to get - all of a sudden.

I used my best friend, who is a hairdresser. Didn't have any issues with that. It's really not hard to find someone who has a job.

... and a recent, digital photo of yourself.

We always had to for any voting. My dad held a 20 year grudge because a neighbour asked him for Id and the other neighbour next to him wouldn’t back him up. It was nearly the maddest I’d ever seen him!!! Hilarious that they both kept a straight face!

You can apply for a buss pass without either a passport or a driving licence - you need proof of age (e.g. birth cert, DWP letter) and proof of address only. Why are you making things up?

Only 'a shambles' if people sit back until the last minute then moan that they can't get the required paperwork in time, like the idiots who look at their passport a day before they need to use it. There is so much electoral fraud that there needs to be a start and this is a good way, the next move should be the requirement of a person's NI number and have a system to check ot isn't being used multiple times, eg by students.

In fact for those who are socially isolated, have mental health issues or move a lot, finding someone suitable to sign the form is a known barrier and genuine issue.

Only if they don't bother to get the documentation on time.

There is almost no electoral fraud, especially for local elections. You are making things up (a lot of that on this thread!)

Why on earth do you think students, who often do not vote at all, will vote multiple times?

You seem to live in a paranoid fantasy world.

From a personal admin perspective, it is so much easier for us to use a postal vote (which we do tend to walk round to the council offices' voting box).

We get about 3 weeks to make our vote, not 20 hours.

I didn't know.

Who watches actual TV or listens to the radio these days? I'm never going to see or hear an advert!

Luckily we all have postal votes anyway, but thanks for the info, it would have been a pain to turn up without

So you need proof of identity which you don't need for the 18+. Why are you being dishonest about this?

Yes - you need to upload a photo as well, as it's a form of photographic ID (which can only be used for voting at a polling station).

Quite right, too. Our voting system was wide open to organised corruption so this is a welcome step. Well done to the government. 👏👏👏

This has been a thing for years and years in Northern Ireland.

Sigh. They don't. You've always needed your voting card, in the 40 years I've been voting.

That's not correct, not in England anyway. You don't have to take your poll card with you.

you could use anyone's DWP letter you wally.

Good shout - thanks.

I never take my voting card. You dont need it