Erewash residents heading off to vote in the General Election are being urged not to forget they now need to take valid photo ID.
Those who cannot prove who they say they are will be unable to cast their ballots on 4 July.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm – and acceptable forms of ID to avoid being turned away include a passport, driving licence, blue badge or old person’s bus pass. The full list is here:
Accepted forms of photo ID | Electoral Commission
If you have photo ID that is out of date you WILL still be able to vote – as long as you look the same.
This is the first General Election since the Government brought in the ID rules, which it said would combat fraud at the ballot box.
In the May 2023 local elections about 14,000 people were unable to vote in England owing to the change, according to Electoral Commission figures.
Anyone without the correct ID is asked by polling station staff to come back with valid documentation. The staff record how many voters are turned away, as well as how many then return.
Staff will ask anyone wearing a veil on religious grounds to briefly remove it. The same applies to voters turning up in a medical mask.
If your ID was lost or stolen after the deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate – which was 26 June – you can apply for an emergency proxy vote up until 5pm on polling day. Info is here:
Emergency proxy vote | Electoral Commission
There were 1,462 cases of alleged electoral fraud reported to police between 2019 and 2023, according to the commission.
Of these, 11 involved impersonation at polling stations. One resulted in a conviction and one in a caution. Police took no further action in the nine other cases.