“Labour will [...] address the inconsistencies in voter ID rules that prevent legitimate voters from voting. For example, in the case of HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards”
The government has now added HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards to the list of accepted voter ID, and has said it will publish a report on voter ID rules in spring 2025.
The July 2024 election was the first general election across Great Britain in which voters needed to show a form of photographic identification in order to cast their ballot. In England, photo ID is also needed to vote in local elections, and it’s also required in England and Wales for Police and Crime Commissioner elections. In Scotland, it’s only needed for general elections, and voters have needed photo ID for all elections in Northern Ireland since 2003.
Forms of ID accepted in polling stations in England include passports, driving licences, Blue Badges, various types of bus pass and Voter Authority Certificates.
The government’s manifesto specifically referenced HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards as an example of an “inconsistency” in the current rules, but it didn’t mention other examples. When we asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) about this, it said: “We will carefully review the voter ID rules and evaluate how they impacted citizens during the General Election before bringing forward firm proposals in due course. This includes but is not limited to … a thorough review of the list of identifications currently accepted in the polling station.”
In the 2024 general election, it was reported that a British Army veteran was turned away from a polling station, as Armed Forces Veteran Cards weren’t accepted as a valid form of ID.
The campaigning organisation the Electoral Reform Society has argued that there should be a wider shake-up of the rules to further expand the list of eligible ID and, for example, include 18+ Oyster Cards (which aren’t currently accepted, though 60+ Oyster Cards are).
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On 15 October 2024, the government said HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards would be accepted voter ID in “forthcoming elections” and laid a statutory instrument to legislate for this change, as well as for the inclusion of all Scottish National Entitlement Cards and clarifying the rules around Commonwealth passports. This came into force on 4 December 2024, meaning these forms of ID can be used in the local elections taking place in England in May 2025.
We’re currently rating this pledge as ‘Appears on track’ because, while the government has added the specific example named in its pledge to the list of accepted voter ID, we still don’t have full clarification on what other forms of ID the government was referring to, and the government hasn’t yet finished its wider review of voter ID, so we don’t know if it may yet make further changes.
Democracy and local growth minister Alex Norris said in October 2024 that “work is already underway” on this evaluation of voter ID rules, and that the government will publish a “full report next year”. The MHCLG told us in November 2024 that it expected the report to be published in spring 2025.
As we develop this Government Tracker we’re keen to hear your feedback. We’ll be keeping the Tracker up to date and adding more pledges in the coming months.
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Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister – 24 September 2024