Councils taking part in 2019 Voter ID pilots announced

The Cabinet Office has announced the 11 local authorities across England who will be taking part in Voter ID pilots for the 2019 local elections.

The government hopes that the pilots will provide further insight into how best to ensure the security of the voting process and reduce the risk of voter fraud as well as generate insight into the methods of ID that work best for voters. The Cabinet Office successfully facilitated pilots in five local authorities as part of the 2018 local elections.

To verify that voters are who they say they are, each local authority will test one of four models of Voter ID checks in their pilot: photo ID, photo and non-photo ID, traditional poll cards and poll cards with scannable barcodes.

Voters in Pendle, East Staffordshire and Woking will be asked to show photo ID before they are given their ballot papers. Ribble Valley, Broxtowe, Derby, North Kesteven and Braintree will require voters to present either one form of photo ID or up to two forms of non-photo ID.

In addition, Mid Sussex, Watford and North West Leicestershire will test using poll cards as a means of identification. Peterborough and Pendle will run a separate postal vote pilot, looking at the security of postal votes and providing additional guidance in postal vote packs.

Chloe Smith, Minister for the Constitution, said: “I am pleased to see that so many local authorities came forward to participate in the 2019 pilots so we can gain a deeper understanding of how voter ID will work on a wider scale - and what works best for voters.

“We want people to have confidence that our elections are safeguarded against any threat or perception of electoral fraud. People are already required to show ID to pick up a parcel from the Post Office, rent a car, or apply for benefits, and this is a common sense next step to securing the integrity of our elections.”