Get your free voter authority certificate now if you don't have voter ID

Article date: 22 April 2024

Last year Government introduced a requirement for voters to show photo ID when voting at a polling station. If you forget to bring yours, you won't be able to vote but you can return later with it.

Accepted forms of voter ID include passports, driving licenses, blue badges and a range of Government-funded travel passes.

If you are intending on using your older person's bus pass as a form of ID, then it must be a national travel pass and state that it is funded by HM Government.  Local travel passes cannot be used as a form of ID.

Expired documents will be accepted at the polling station if the photograph is still a good likeness of you.

For more information on which forms of photo ID will be accepted, visit www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID or call their helpline on 0800 328 0280.

If you don't already have an accepted form of photo ID, or you're not sure whether your photo ID still looks like you, you can apply for a free voter ID document, known as a Voter Authority Certificate. This is a document specifically for the purpose of voting.

Apply by 5pm on 24 April 2024 to get a Voter Authority Certificate in time for the 2 May elections, at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate.