Public awareness of voter ID requirements ahead of the local elections
As we approach the local elections, associate director Priya Minhas explores the public’s awareness levels of the recent voter ID regulations
The local elections, held in England a year ago, were the first to require voters to show a proof of identification before they were issued with a ballot paper. A public awareness campaign was launched ahead of then to inform voters about the requirement to take along their IDs when they went to cast their vote.
A year later, with a fresh round of local elections and a general election on the horizon, we’ve looked at what current levels of public awareness are regarding voter identification.
Overall public awareness levels
Overall, public awareness of the need to present a form of ID before voting is high, with four in five (83%) being aware of this. There is little difference in awareness levels between Conservative voters (91% are aware) and Labour voters (87% are aware).
However, there is a noticeable distinction in awareness levels based on age, particularly for younger voters who appear to be less informed on this change. Three in ten (36%) 18-24 year olds, a quarter (25%) of 25-34 year olds, and just over a fifth (23%) of 35-44 year olds are unaware of the requirement to present identification when voting. As demonstrated by the graph below, awareness continues to increase with age.
Probing further into the specifics of the change, there is a level of uncertainty. Just under half of the public (48%) are aware that this change had already taken place. However, one in five (20%) believe the upcoming local elections are the first time this change will take place, while 2% think it will occur ahead of the next general election. A further 12% remain unsure about the timings of this change.
The bottom line is that there is a clear lack of public awareness around the specific timings of ID reform. For most people (68%) they know that the change will come in by the time the May local elections roll around. It is the converse group, those who don’t know or think the change is coming (32%), who are at risk of being turned away at the ballot box.
Understanding of accepted forms of ID
When it comes to understanding which forms of identification are acceptable to cast a vote, awareness levels also vary. Unsurprisingly, people are well-informed about common forms of ID used in everyday life, such as when opening a bank account. For instance, nine in ten are aware that a UK passport (91%) or a driving licence (89%) qualifies as valid ID for voting.
However, awareness tends to be lower for certain travel cards that also qualify as ID for voting purpose. Overall, around two fifths (43%) are aware that an older person’s local travel card can be used as a valid form of ID, with this awareness increasing to 58% of those aged 65 and above. However, among individuals in this age group, 20% do not believe older person’s local travel cards are a valid form of ID to vote, and 22% are unsure.
We also included a few red herrings to gauge awareness levels. Among these, student IDs are believed to be accepted by 40% of the public and a young person’s travel card is considered valid by a quarter (24%) of the public, rising to 31% of 18-24 year olds. Young people, a group who already have lower voter turnout, are at risk of having the new reforms fuel their apathy if they are not allowed to vote on the day due to having the wrong ID.
Bars highlighted in red are herrings put in to test awareness levels. The red bars are not valid forms of ID for voting purposes.
The ease of accessing valid IDs
We have a lack of awareness of the change. We have a lack of awareness of acceptable IDs. On top of these, there have also been some concerns that difficulty finding a valid form of ID on the day of an election could put voters off going to cast their vote at the ballot box at all.
We asked respondents that have a valid form of ID to imagine they were at the front door of their house and asked them where their valid form of identification would be. Just over a quarter (27%) carry it on their person, while over half (54%) say that it would not be on their person but would be easy to find. However, almost a fifth (18%) would need to spend more time finding it, with 15% saying it would be in their house somewhere and they would have to find it, and 3% saying it would not be in their house. There are voter and demographic variations here. Labour voters (22%) are more likely to need to spend time on locating their ID than Conservative voters (15%). There is also variation again by age, with younger voters needing more time to locate their IDs than older voters.
The upcoming local elections are the second instance in which valid IDs will be required to cast a vote and if voters come to the ballot box without an ID, come with an invalid ID or can’t be bothered voting because of ID restrictions, there is a risk that a significant number of votes will not be cast. There remains a concerning number of voters who are unaware of the updated requirements and as such, we suggest there is a two-fold need.
The first is obvious: there needs to be more public awareness campaigning. But more subtly, there needs to be more encouragement for voters to ensure they know where their IDs are located in advance of election day. If these aren’t shouted about and signposted with clarity, there is a risk that many potential voters will be left in lurch, or worse, left in the dark.