Voter Identification: HM Armed Forces Veteran Card

To encourage participation in our democracy, this Government are committed to ensuring all legitimate voters have the ability to vote in our elections.

Working alongside the Minister for Veterans and People, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns), we are pleased to today, 15 October, lay the statutory instrument—the Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) Regulations 2024—required to add the HM armed forces veteran card (“veteran card”) to the list of photographic identifications accepted in polling stations as voter ID, thereby fulfilling a key manifesto commitment.

The Government are committed to carefully and thoroughly reviewing the voter identification rules and evaluating how they impacted citizens during the general election. Work is already under way on this evaluation, using data gathered at polling stations along with public opinion survey results and qualitative research with electors and the electoral sector. We will be taking into account the findings and recommendations of the Electoral Commission, due this autumn, as part of this review and publishing our full report next year. Any reforms to voter ID in the future will always respect and promote the rights of veterans.

Reviews and major changes to electoral law, if done right, take time, research and careful consideration, and we will be bringing forward firm proposals on the wider voter ID policy in due course. However, there are some clear gaps in the existing provisions—such as the current absence of the veteran card from the accepted voter ID list—on which we can make quick progress while the evaluation is ongoing to improve consistency and widen participation.

At the heart of our security are the men and women who serve and risk their lives for this country. It was unacceptable that the previous Government failed to add the veteran card to the list of accepted voter identifications. Including the card, alongside the already accepted Ministry of Defence identification card (the MOD90 card), will bring parity between veterans and serving armed services personnel with regard to the ID they can use in polling stations. We recognise that the veteran card is a powerful symbol of veterans’ service and its addition to the list is one of the things this Government are doing to honour their contribution. The addition of the veteran card supports them engaging in the elections process and in exercising their democratic rights. We would like to thank those who have campaigned to make this change a reality.

The Government have set out their commitment to strengthen the integrity of elections and encourage wide participation in the democratic process. Fulfilling our commitment on the veteran card is only the first step in that journey. We are also making progress in several other areas to deliver on these promises. Work has begun on what is required to extend the franchise for all UK elections to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote, and legislation for this will be introduced in due course, strengthening our democracy and empowering young people to participate in it.

It is not only young people who should be encouraged to participate. While Electoral Commission reports show consistency in the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers over recent years, we know there remains a significant number of people missing from our registers and we will tackle this unacceptable participation gap by taking action to improve rates of electoral registration. We are exploring a wide range of options to deliver on this commitment, including through the use of data and online services to support electoral registration officers increase registration levels.

We are clear that electoral reform will require careful consideration and engagement with both the electoral sector and with citizens themselves.

Alongside widening participation, the Government are committed to protecting the integrity of and public trust in our electoral processes. Effective regulation and enforcement of how our politics are financed plays a key role in maintaining this trust. Foreign money has no place in the UK’s political system, which is why the law is clear that foreign donations to political parties are not permitted in the UK. However, as threats and challenges evolve, we must continue to do likewise: more can and should be done to ensure our political finance framework remains robust. We therefore committed in our manifesto to strengthening the rules around donations to political parties, and, working closely with the Electoral Commission, are considering a range of measures to achieve this. Firm proposals will be brought forward in due course.

The Government are committed to supporting returning officers, electoral registration officers and their teams in their delivery of our democracy. We have heard and understood the consistent message from the electoral sector that electoral law is outdated and difficult to work with and that while elections continue at present to be delivered effectively, that is not without risk and comes at a personal and professional cost to elections teams.

The Government therefore will, alongside the work to deliver manifesto commitments, look to identify and address the biggest challenges and pain-points in the current system for electoral registration and conduct. We will do this in partnership with the elections sector, using the large body of evidence that already exists and the reflections of the sector on the reality of delivery of recent polls, to ensure we prioritise the right issues and identify solutions that work.

We will continue to provide Parliament with updates on our progress across all of these workstreams to strengthen our democracy and uphold the integrity and resilience of our elections.

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