Support with voter Photo ID Applications

From 4 May 2023 you’ll need to show photo ID when voting in person in some UK elections or referendums.

Do you have the relevant

Photo ID

to be able to vote?

If not, you will need to apply for a

Voter Authority Certificate

by 25 April

or register for a postal vote by 17 April.

Stannington Library can help with

online or paper applications

for a Voter Authority Certificate

– including taking photographs.

Leave your name and phone number with a volunteer in the library (either in person, by phone call or by email) and we will contact you asap to arrange an appointment.

NB: If you know someone who might need this support, please pass on the message!

0114 234 8732    [email protected]

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Information about the new voting rules can be found on the GOV.UK website – this is the direct link: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need  

You can register for a postal vote here:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-a-postal-vote .

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You’ll need one of the following types of photo ID to vote:

• a UK or Northern Ireland photocard driving licence (full or provisional)
• a driving licence issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands
• a UK passport
• a passport issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or a Commonwealth country
• a PASS card (National Proof of Age Standards Scheme)
• a Blue Badge
• a biometric residence permit (BRP)
• a Defence Identity Card (MOD form 90)
• a national identity card issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• a Northern Ireland Electoral Identity Card
• a Voter Authority Certificate
• an Anonymous Elector’s Document

You can also use one of the following travel passes as photo ID when you vote:

• an older person’s bus pass
• a disabled person’s bus pass
• an Oyster 60+ card
• a Freedom Pass
• a Scottish National Entitlement Card (NEC)
• a 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card
• a Disabled Person’s Welsh Concessionary Travel Card
• a Northern Ireland concessionary travel pass

NB: The photo on your ID must look like you.

NB: You can still use your ID even if it has expired.

If you’re voting as someone’s proxy

You’ll need to take your own ID when you go to vote on someone else’s behalf. You do not need to take theirs.

If you’ve changed your name

The name on your ID must match your name on the electoral register. If it does not, you’ll need to either:

• register to vote again with your new details
• take a document with you to vote that proves you’ve changed your name (for example, a marriage certificate)
• Small differences do not matter. For example, if your ID says ‘Jim Smith’ instead of ‘James Smith’.

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Voter Authority Certificate

There is an online Voter Authority Certificate application form:  https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate    as well as a paper form.

You only need to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate if:

• you do not have accepted photo ID
• you no longer look like the photo on your ID
• the name on your photo ID is different to your name on the electoral register

If the name on your photo ID is different, you can register to vote again or take a document with you to vote that proves that you have changed your name.

It’s free to apply. You’ll need:

• a recent, digital photo of yourself
• your National Insurance number

You can still apply if you do not have a National Insurance number. You’ll need to provide other documents to prove your identity, for example a birth certificate, bank statement and utility bill.

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On the Voter Authority application form it states:

You must supply a recent photo of your head and shoulders, with your face uncovered, as part of this application.

It’s recommended to write your name, house number and postcode on the back of your photo.

Your photo must be:

• clear and in focus

• in colour

• against a plain, light-coloured background

• your true likeness, with no photoshop or filters

• at least 45 x 35 mm (height x width) in size, and no bigger than 297 x 210 mm (height x width)

• undamaged (e.g. not torn, creased, or marked)

In your photo you must:

• face forwards and look straight at the camera

• be alone, with no other objects or people

• have a plain expression

• have eyes open and visible, with no hair in front of them

• not wear sunglasses, but normal glasses are fine if you typically wear them

• not have a head covering (except for religious or medical reasons)

• not have ‘red-eye’, glare or shadows over your face

If you have ticked the box on page 3 to say you have a disability, the photo you supply:

• doesn’t need to have a plain expression

• doesn’t need to have your eyes open and visible

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If you have not provided a date of birth and National Insurance number. You must provide either:

• copies of THREE documents from the lists below with at least one document being from list A (the other two can be from either list) or

• copies of FOUR documents from list B.

Please include copies of the documents when sending your application form (do not send

originals), or tick the box at the bottom to say you cannot provide the required documents.

Supporting documents list A:

Unless otherwise stated, these documents must be issued in the UK, Channel Islands,

or Isle of Man.

• Birth certificate

• Marriage or civil partnership certificate

• Adoption certificate

• Firearms certificate (granted under the Firearms Act 1968)

• Paper driving licence (not photocard)

• Record of a bail decision (issued in England or Wales)

• Driving licence with photo (not issued in UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man) which must be valid for at least 12 months from the date the applicant entered the UK

Supporting documents list B:

• Bank or building society statement, or account confirmation letter

• Utility bill

• Credit card statement

• Benefits (or benefits entitlement) statement

• Mortgage statement

• P45 or P60 form

• Pension statement

• Council tax statement, or demand letter