AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN? VOTER ID IN THE 2023 ENGLISH LOCAL ELECTIONS

Their concerns range from the diversion of staffing to organise the processing of ID applications, to the retraining of polling staff in polling stations who will have to be able to identify the various forms of ID, to the challenges that will be faced using traditional venues that may not be able to provide the necessary context to check the ID for some voters – especially those with face coverin. [...] Of course, one of the largest unknown aspects of the introduction of voter ID in 2023 will be the numbers of voters seeking to obtain the new voter card (now more than likely a sheet of A4 paper) to present at the polling station to prove their identity. [...] The system is creaking and a lot of that comes back to the timescale of the introduction of these changes.’60 One of the administrators who responded added, ‘my main concern is the capacity of the core team. [...] 45 AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN? VOTER ID IN THE 2023 ENGLISH LOCAL ELECTIONS So, will voter ID requirements to vote in person be delivered in the 2023 English local elections? Whilst it appears to be the UK Government’s intention to press ahead with the plans to introduce these for the May 2023 local elections, the timetable appears to be slipping. [...] The decision to continue with the implementation of voter identification for the May 2023 polls responds to this, allowing the sector to turn their focus to further changes due to be implemented later in 2023 and ahead of elections scheduled for 2024,’75 This timetable appears to mean that the plan is now to have ID requirements in place as part of a staged introduction over the coming few years,.