Voter Identification Regulations 2022

Motion to Approve

That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 3 November be approved.

My Lords, this statutory instrument is a key part of how we will implement the voter identification policy agreed in the Elections Act 2022. This area was debated extensively during the passage of the Act earlier this year. The Act was passed by both Houses and delivers on a government manifesto commitment.

Through this statutory instrument, we will be fulfilling a major manifesto commitment to

“protect the integrity of our democracy, by introducing identification to vote at polling stations”.

Gaps in our current legislation leave open the potential for someone to cast another’s vote at a polling station. Our priority is adopting legislation that ensures the public can have absolute confidence in the integrity of our elections and certainty that their vote belongs to them and them alone.

The introduction of a voter identification policy is the best solution to this problem and has long been called for by the independent Electoral Commission, as well as by international organisations such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which regularly monitors and reports on our national polls.

The statutory instrument sets out further detail on the new processes that will be put in place to help us implement this policy. First, it sets out the updated polling station conduct rules for a range of elections and referendums. It details exactly how photographic identification documents will be checked and how data will be recorded by polling station staff.

Secondly, it sets out a series of updates to the election forms. As you would expect, a number of existing forms such as poll cards have been updated to inform electors of the new requirement to show identification and the types of document that will be accepted. On top of these changes, there are some new forms, such as those polling station staff will use to record data that will help our planned reviews of the policy.

My Lords, on that specific point, can the Minister explain why younger people are treated differently to older people in terms of which documents will be accepted? Is that not a form of age discrimination?

I assume the noble Baroness is speaking about railcards, et cetera. We had that debate very clearly when the Bill went through. We have discussed it and I do not think there is any need to discuss it further.

What is the answer?

Can I move on, please? The statutory instruments also sets—

My Lords, my noble friend has asked a reasonable question. Perhaps the Minister could give the House the courtesy of a reply?

I have given a reply. The details of why we would not accept young people’s railcards were well discussed and debated at the time of the Bill. We are now discussing the statutory instrument to deliver that legislation that has already been discussed.

I will now move on. Showing photo identification is a part of day-to-day life for people in all walks of life and it is a perfectly reasonable and proportionate way to confirm that a person is who they say they are when it comes to voting. Indeed, it has already been a requirement to show photographic identification to vote in person since 2003 in Northern Ireland.

I must also speak to the two amendments tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman of Ullock and Lady Pinnock. I thank them both for having met me in the past week to share their concerns and suggestions for this statutory instrument. On the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, we disagree strongly with the views that she has set out. We are aware of concerns that have been raised in the sector about the pressures that election teams may face, but the Government remain confident that the electoral administrators will be able to deliver this important measure to protect our democratic system from fraud. We have worked extensively with stakeholders across the sector to develop implementation plans, and extensive funding has been made available to local authorities to deliver the new processes and to the Electoral Commission for its national awareness campaign.

The Government also disagree with the suggestion that electors will be prevented from voting. As we have said on a number of occasions, everyone who is eligible to vote will continue to have the opportunity to do so. Any elector who does not have a suitable form of photographic identification will be able to apply for a voter authority certificate from their local electoral registration officer, free of charge. It will be possible to apply online or on paper, just as for registration to vote; indeed, it will be possible to register to vote and to apply for a certificate at the same time. We are working hard to make the application system as accessible and user-friendly as possible, and testing with both electors and electoral administrators is receiving very positive feedback.

I am sorry to interrupt the Minister again but, if everything is as well prepared and clear as she suggests, why is the Conservative chair of the Local Government Association calling for a delay?

I am aware that he is calling for a delay. I have not spoken to him, and I do not know why he is doing so, because the electoral officers—

Oh!

No. The electoral officers, who are independent in local government, say that they know it will be challenging, but they are confident that they will be able to deliver.

While I cannot agree with the substance of the noble Baroness’s amendment, I also note in passing my concerns about the form that it takes. It is not the usual practice of this House to decline to approve regulations giving effect to primary legislation that has already been passed—for sound constitutional reasons. It is also worth noting that the Liberal Democrats supported the introduction of photographic identification in Northern Ireland elections. The Liberal Democrat Front Bench told Parliament that

“we accept the need for a Bill ... The Liberal Democrats also welcome the Government’s intention to introduce an electoral identity card.”—[Official Report, Commons, 10/7/01; cols. 705-07.]

The legislation passed Second Reading without a vote. I would therefore urge noble Lords to join me in opposing this amendment.

On the regret amendment to the Motion tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, we fully support a review being held rapidly following the May 2023 elections. Scrutiny is essential to ensure that we can refine and improve the delivery of this policy for future polls. We have already committed to a review that will take place after the May elections. I can confirm our intention that the results of that review should be published no later than November 2023. Work is already under way with a research agency on gathering evidence to support the planned evaluation of voter identification after the May polls, alongside our in-house team of analytical professionals. However, to give the House comfort on the independence from government of the review, we are happy to increase the role of the external research agency to include the drafting of the final report, which we will of course publish in full. However, this is conditional on the amendment before us not being pushed.

It is right that we consider where there is potential for duplication and existing routes that could facilitate scrutiny. We believe that there are committees in this House and the other place, with considerable depth of understanding and breadth of expertise, that could consider these subjects, and we would welcome further scrutiny through these routes if the committees felt able. We have already contacted both the Constitution Committee and the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee about whether they would be willing to provide further scrutiny. Of course, it will be up to those committees to consider whether they are able to and want to conduct any inquiry that they see fit. My colleagues in the other place and I are very happy to provide evidence to Select Committees once the review has been completed.

In addition to the specific request for a swift and independent review, the noble Baroness reiterated her concerns on the potential impacts this policy might have on the turnout at elections. I believe that the best evidence we have to show that there will not be a significant impact on participation is the existing example of Northern Ireland, where a near-identical requirement to show photographic identification has existed for almost 20 years—it was introduced by the Labour Government of the time. The policy has been a clear success: voters’ confidence that elections are well run in Northern Ireland is consistently higher than in Great Britain, and there are extremely limited allegations of electoral fraud at polling stations. The policy has quickly become readily accepted by the Northern Irish electorate: Electoral Commission opinion research shows that voters in Northern Ireland were more likely to have found it very easy to participate in elections, with 83% there finding it very easy, compared to 78% in Great Britain. More tellingly, in the commission’s recent 2021 public opinion tracker, not a single respondent reported that they did not have identification and found themselves unable to vote.

Furthermore, when that Labour Government legislated for voter ID, the Lords Minister, the late Baroness Farrington, told this House: