Elections Act 2022
The UK Government implemented significant changes to the current electoral system. The Elections Act 2022 outlines several measures which will affect the way that we vote and how we conduct elections.
One of the biggest changes was the requirement for individuals to show photographic identification (such as a passport or drivers licence) when they vote at a polling station.
The sections below provide a summary of the changes. You can find out more about the Elections Act 2022 by visiting the UK Government website.
Changes
All electors are required to show an official form of photographic identification (ID) when voting in person at a polling station. A list of acceptable ID documents is included below. If you do not have any of the accepted forms of ID you can apply online for a free Voter Authority Certificate – this is a photographic identity document specifically for the purpose of voting.
If you own an accepted form of photographic ID but it has expired it can still be used, as long as the photograph is still a good likeness of you.
To access the application service for a Voter Authority Certificate please visit https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate
You must be registered to vote in order to apply. If you need to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, make sure you do so in good time ahead of it being required at the polling station.
Accepted forms of ID:
- a passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country
- a driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EEA state
- a biometric immigration document
- an identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
- Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
- a Blue Badge
- a national identity card issued by an EEA state
- an Older Person’s Bus Pass
- a Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
- an Oyster 60+ Card
- a Freedom Pass
- a Scottish National Entitlement Card issued in Scotland
- a 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
- a Disabled Person’s Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
- a Senior SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
- a Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person’s SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
- a War Disablement SmartPass or War Disabled SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
- a 60+ SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
- a Half Fare SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
- an Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland
Absent voting allows you to vote in an election if you cannot get to the polling station. There are currently two types of absent voting – postal voting and proxy voting. You can find out more about postal voting and proxy voting by visiting our How to vote pages.
Changes to absent voting
The government introduced a new system for applying for a postal/proxy applications and you can now apply online. You will need your National Insurance number to hand to make this application.
Please visit the respective websites to either vote by post or vote by proxy.
Secrecy requirements are now extended to postal and proxy votes. You can find out more about the secrecy requirements on the Electoral Commission website.
Postal voting
You now have to refresh your signature every 3 years if you vote by post, this has changed from every 5 years
If you hand in your postal vote at a polling station on the day of the election, you are only allowed to hand in a maximum of 6 postal votes. Political parties and campaigners will be prevented from handing in postal votes.
Proxy voting
You are only able to act as a proxy for a maximum of 4 people. Of these 4, the maximum number who can be ‘domestic electors’ (voters living in the UK) is 2.
The new law makes it easier for voters with disabilities to vote. Voters with disabilities are now given extra support at polling stations and anyone over the age of 18 can now act as a companion for a voter with a disability.
The Representation of the People (Franchise Amendment and Eligibility Review) Regulations 2023 included an update to the franchise for local government and Police and Crime Commissioner elections, which came into effect from 7 May 2024.
This means that in order to vote or to stand in local government and Police and Crime Commissioner elections, EU citizens will be required to be a qualifying EU citizen, or an EU citizen with retained rights.
Voting Rights
A person is a qualifying EU citizen if they are a citizen of a country with which the UK has bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights – currently Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
A person is an EU citizen with retained rights if they
- are a citizen of a country with which the UK does not have bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty
- have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31/12/2020 (the Implementation Period Completion Date – IPCD)
We are required to identify EU citizens who should have their eligibility reviewed as part of an Eligibility Confirmation and Review (ECR) process. We have written to electors who are 'Qualifying EU citizens' and 'EU citizens with retained rights', to inform them that they are eligible to remain registered and that they do not need to take any action.
Any EU citizens whose eligibility we have not been able to determine have been contacted and asked to declare their eligibility. Any EU citizen who does not meet the new eligibility criteria, will be removed from the electoral register.
There will also be a change to the application process in order to determine applications under the new eligibility criteria.
If you have received an eligibility review letter and would like further information, please visit the Electoral Commission website at https://electoralcommission.org.uk/EU. You can also contact the Electoral Services team using the details on your review letter.
Candidacy rights
The changes to candidacy rights for EU citizens came into force from 7 May 2024. Transitional arrangements will enable EU citizens elected to office before this date to remain in office for their full term.
After 7 May 2024, EU citizens standing as candidates need to have been legally resident in the UK prior to 31 December 2020 (have leave to enter or remain in the UK, or do not require such leave) or be a citizen from an EU5 country (Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Denmark) in order to be eligible to stand as a candidate.
The 15 year limit on voting for British citizens living overseas has ended. Going forward any British citizen, who was previously registered to vote in the UK or who previously lived in the UK, can register to vote regardless of how long they have lived abroad.
If you would like to register to vote as an overseas elector, please visit the register to vote website.
Additionally, the renewal period for overseas electors will be changing from 1 to 3 years.
These changes came into force on 16 January 2024.
In May 2023 the voting system changed from a supplementary vote system to a simple majority voting system, known as ‘first past the post’, for the following elections:
- local authority (council) mayors in England
- combined authority mayors
- Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales
- the London mayor
In ‘first past the post’ voting you only vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins. Candidates no longer need to get a certain number of votes; they just have to get more than any other candidate.